


Gold

by midas_touch_of_angst



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Adoption, Also Ruby and Sapphire are the best grandparents, Alternate Universe - Human, And it turns out to be really weird for everyone, Asexual Character, Asexual Garnet, Baby Fusions, But Pearl has a lot of supportive roommates who end up helping her raise her kids, But baby fusions are cute okay, Canon Gay Character, Canon Lesbian Relationship, Children, Fluff, Human Fusions, Implied Past Relationship(s), Lapis has been through some stuff, Lesbian Character, Opal has short-term memory loss, Pansexual Character, Pansexual Rose, Parent-Child Relationship, Parenthood, Past Pearl/Rose Quartz (Steven Universe), Past Relationship(s), Pearl adopts a bunch of children spur-of-the-moment, Short-Term Memory Loss, Single Mom Lapis, Single Parents, Tags will be updated as I write the chapters, Technically Single Mom Pearl, Toddlers, gay female character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-07
Updated: 2017-03-15
Packaged: 2018-08-07 06:17:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 38
Words: 59,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7703740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midas_touch_of_angst/pseuds/midas_touch_of_angst
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"How’s life in the big city goin?” Amethyst asked from beside Rose, with a burrito including Heaven Knows What sitting half-eaten in front of her.</p><p>“Well,” Pearl struggled to speak, wondering how her roommates and former girlfriend would take the news. “I’m a mother now.”</p><p>There was dead silence on the other side, as the three women stared in shock at her. After another beat, Garnet pulled down her glasses in order to look Pearl in the eye, a blank expression on her face, before she spoke what they were all thinking.</p><p>“I thought you were gay.”</p><p>--</p><p>Human AU: Pearl adopts a lot of children by accident and has no regrets.</p><p>Playlist: http://8tracks.com/badwolfcipher/i-will-r-y-r-lif-g-ld</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I Will Turn Your Life to Gold

Chapter One

 

It started when Pearl went to Empire City. She was fresh teaching fencing at Rose’s Crystal Academy, and she was chaperoning her students to and fro a tournament. The van was packed with excited kids, all singing along to a new song on the radio, and Pearl heard her phone buzz.

“Uzo, could you check that?”

The head student, who’d called shotgun as soon as they got out of the last resteraunt- despite Pearl informing everyone multiple times that buses didn't _have_ a shotgun- picked up her phone. “It’s from Ms. Bismuth. She says that her house is gonna have extra guests, but if we go past the second floor we can avoid them.”

“Good. I don’t want you all charging in to fight people again.” Pearl chided.

“But Ms. Pearl! They were threatening our peace!” Hwan groaned.

“That’s not how Hotel Security saw it.” Pearl explained, “And it’s why we’re staying at my friends’s parents’ place instead of there.”

“Ms. Pearl, the van’s too small!” Aluna said, kicking the seat in front of her.

“It’s not a van, it’s a small bus, and there’s an entire row of seats behind you.”

“But there are so many people here!”

“You see them on a daily basis, Aluna.”

“Yeah but I can avoid them then. Palmira won’t shut up!”

“That’s _not_ true! I was quiet while showing you my Camp Pining Hearts fanvid!”

Pearl sighed, looking ahead to the road while her students argued. They were young, true, but she still had to deal with them another four years, and she doubted they would change much in that time. Why did Rose convince her to teach children? She was no good at it.

She pulled in to park in front of the house, managing to see it in the dusk light. “We’re here!” she announced, and the kids gawked at the size of the place.

“Your friend’s parents are _friggin loaded_!” Nick exclaimed.

Pearl laughed a little at the students’ surprise. Bismuth’s mansion was definitely huge, towering above the small bus, and decorated with the best flowers and statues on the windowsills. “You haven’t even seen the inside yet!” Pearl told them, grinning. “And wait until you see the Garden!”

“It’s bigger than the school!” Kade declared.

That started to make Pearl uncomfortable. Sure, their school wasn’t _small,_ but it was nowhere near as big as the mansion. Why did the kids think of the school as their basis for tall buildings?

“Everybody off, we need to find our rooms so we can rest for the tournament tomorrow.”

The kids followed, as Pearl explained that the third floor was for girls, the fourth for boys, and the fifth for students who weren’t either, and Bismuth’s parents had been nice enough to leave little lists on the doors so the kids had assigned places. They walked in and Pearl let the kids gawk again at the gold-colored atrium before them, before shepherding them to the elevator. She slowly dropped the students off, letting them whisper to each other about how they’d better not touch _anything_ or they’d have to pay for it.

Pearl herself had a private room- something she thanked Bismuth for, she didn’t think she could stand listening to the kids chatter all night- on the fifth floor. She started unpacking her things, not that she brought much; she brought her teacher’s uniform and a few books, just enough for the week, as well as a picture of her and her roomates. Her eyes passed over Garnet’s smile and Amethyst’s smirk, and her own awkward grin, over to Rose, her arm around Pearl and her eyes bright, laughing.

She sighed and put the picture back in her bag. There was no use dwelling on the past; Rose certainly wasn’t, amicably still keeping in contact with her former roomates even after she left them for a broke musician halfway across the city. Pearl saw her everyday at the school, looking happy as ever. Possibly happier. Pearl wondered if she even remembered the heated anger Pearl had unleashed on her when Rose arrived with an engagement ring on her hand.

Pearl sighed and sat on her bed, covering her eyes, and feeling the band tied around her forehead, wincing. She ran her fingers through her dark hair, flopping down onto the bed Bismuth’s parents had placed in there.

Then she heard a door slam.

She sat up, confused. None of the kids should be leaving their rooms, they all had personal bathrooms attached, and they wouldn’t be visiting each other already, would they?

Pearl slowly peeked out of her room, cursing when she saw Alli head down the hall, towards the elevator. That child was always wandering, but they weren’t stupid. They were in the tournament tomorrow, they wouldn’t leave the building.

After the elevator closed behind them, Pearl walked towards it, pressing the button to bring it to her. Which way had Alli gone? She found her answer as the elevator came up to her. So Alli had gone down- probably to the Second Floor, because Alli had a knack for causing trouble. Pearl went to that floor, muttering to herself about how much she wanted to scream at the kid.

She finally got to the floor and walked out, seeing that she was in a kitchen. Maybe Alli had come for a snack? She looked around, but didn’t see the child. Pearl pulled out her phone and sent a text to the student, asking where they were. She resolved to keep searching, when Alli replied.

“Visiting brother. Brb.”

Oh. Of course, Alli’s brother was on a different floor. She’d been stupid, and should’ve trusted her student. She turned to go, when she felt a pull on her skirt. She looked down to see a small girl, no older than four, look up at her in confusion. “Hi. I’m Opal.”

Pearl blinked, startled. She must be part of the group of other guests Bismuth had mentioned before. What was she supposed to do?

“Um, hello Opal, I’m Pearl.” Pearl knelt down to look her in the eye. “Have you lost your mommy?”

“My mommy died.”

Dangit. Why did Pearl say that? Of course this girl didn’t have a mother.

“Do you have a daddy?”

“I think he’s dead too.”

“You think?”

“I dunno.”

Opal glanced away, to look at her reflection on the countertop. She turned back, and blinked away more confusion. “Hi. I’m Opal.”

“You said.”

“I did?”

“ _Opal!_ ”

Opal and Pearl both looked around to see a girl of about seven walk in, her dark hair disheveled and knotted. “Opal, can’t wander off!”

“Wandered off?” Opal asked.

“Yeah.” the girl looked up at Pearl apologetically. “She does it a lot.”

“Do not.” Opal protested, crossing her arms and huffing.

“Um, hello. I’m Pearl.” Pearl introduced herself. “Are you Opal’s sister?”

“Nuh-uh. ‘m Al-ex-an-drite.” the girl took a long time to pronounce her name, and looked quite proud of herself when she did.

“Oh. Are you staying here with Opal, then?”

“Yeah. ‘nd Sugi and Sar-don-yx.”

“Who are they?”

“The other girls.”

“Oh, alright.” Pearl started to wonder what exactly four little girls were doing without adults- _oh_. Bismuth’s mother worked for child services. These girls were probably staying with her.

“Do you wanna see em?” Alexandrite asked, holding out her hand for Pearl to grab.

“Um, I should, um,” Pearl started to stutter, as the girls looked up at her with a questioning gaze. “I guess it, well, couldn’t hurt…”

“A’right, follow us!” Alexandrite nodded, grabbing Pearl’s hand and pulling her with her. Opal grabbed Pearl’s other hand, but her tiny fingers could only wrap around one of Pearl’s. They dragged her to another room off of the kitchen, where three sleeping bags leaned against the wall, with fluffed pink pillows, and one small bag. A toy chest was in the center, opened, and with a couple of dolls and toy trains on the floor. A crib was against another wall, in which Pearl could see a small baby sleeping in a white nightgown, maybe one year old, if that. The other girl Alexandrite had mentioned was sitting on one of the sleeping bags, playing with something in her hands. Her hair was wild and messy, which reminded Pearl a lot of Amethyst. She looked to be about five or six.

“This is Sugi.” Alexandrite introduced. “And tha’s Sardonyx.” She gestured to the crib.

“Hello, I’m Pearl.” Pearl introduced herself to Sugi, holding out her hand to her.

Sugi looked up, unimpressed, and showed her what she’d been playing with- which turned out to be a living fly. Pearl jumped back and screamed, which caused the girls to laugh.

“How’d you catch it, Sugilite?” Opal asked, walking up and sitting next to the girl, looking down at the bug.

“Dunno.” Sugilite shrugged. “Your forget is rubbin’ off on me.”

“It’s still alive!” Pearl said, still focused on the bug.

“Yeah. I don’t wanna _kill_ it.” Sugilite looked offended. “Just see how it works.”

“Kill it?” Opal looked horrified. She turned to Pearl. “You won’t let her, will you, Ms. Pearl?”

“Um, no. Definitely not.” Pearl assured her.

Opal blinked at her, confused, then looked down at Sugilite again, her face stretching into amazement. “SUGI! YOU HAVE A BUG!”

Sugilite let out a startled yelp, and the bug managed to fly off. Sugilite let out another yell of frustration, which caused the baby to wake up and start to cry.

“Sugi! Shut _up_!” Alexandrite yelled, before deciding the best approach to tackle Sugilite to the ground. They both yelled while Opal started covering her ears and crying.

Pearl froze for a second, confused on how to handle the situation. She didn’t know how to take care of small children- the youngest in her Sword Group was twelve. She’d never been good with them either, but she resigned herself and jumped forward, easily pulling the two little girls away from each other.

“Alright, settle down!” she yelled as the two kept trying to hit each other. “Now is not the time to fight!”

Eventually Alexandrite went limp, still shooting glares at Sugilite. The second girl took longer to calm down, but eventually resorted to sulking. With Opal and Sardonyx still crying, Pearl put Sugilite down on one sleeping bag and Alexandrite on another, placing the pillows inbetween them. “Don’t cross the pillows, and think about a better way to figure things out.” Pearl told them, then turned to Opal, putting her hands on her shoulders. “Are you okay, dear?”

“I don’t like when people fight. And I think it’s my fault.” she murmured, still choking back tears. “I forget ev’rything.”

 _She’s got short term memory loss,_ Pearl thought to herself, before continuing, “No, it’s not your fault, sweetie. They just got angry at each other, and they responded by fighting, when they should have just talked things out.”

“But I still forget things.”

“That’s okay. You don’t have to remember everything.”

Opal looked up, a little surprised. “I don’t?”

Pearl shook her head, and Opal gave her a hug. “Thanks, Ms. Pearl.”

The baby was still crying, so after a while, Pearl stood up. “Right. How do we get Sardonyx to go back to sleep?”

“You don’t.” Alexandrite huffed, still glaring daggers at Sugilite. “She cries until she can’t cry anymore.”

“Jus’ plug your ears and you’ll be fine.” Sugilite said, refusing to look at Alexandrite.

Pearl shook her head and had Opal sit down inbetween them, smiling down at her. “Hold on a second,” she told her, then walked over to the crib. The baby was still crying, and Pearl noticed little tufts of blonde hair, bright against her dark skin. She slowly picked up the baby, holding her the way Rose had shown her- Rose liked to take care of children, this was more her area than Pearl’s. Still, Pearl held the baby, gently rocking her in her arms. “Shh,” she soothed, before starting to sing, “ _I can show you how to be strong, In the real way. And I know that we can be strong in the real way…_ ”

Sardonyx slowly stopped crying, looking up at Pearl with deep brown eyes, entranced by the woman’s singing. Pearl kept on going, with a lullaby she’d written for Rainbow awhile ago. She used to love writing songs as a teenager- the words just came to her, her mind supplying rhymes faster than she could sing them, the melody unfolding before her, her feet dancing to the rhythm in her head. Things were so easy back when it was just her and Rose and Garnet… Well, no need for that now.

The baby had fallen asleep again, snoring softly. Pearl turned back to the girls, a little embarrassed that they’d had to sit through her singing. She was surprised to see them staring up at her in awe, very quiet.

“What?” Pearl asked.

“You sound pretty.” Opal said, eyes wide.

“You got ‘er to stop crying. Nobody’s ever done that.” Sugilite told her.

Alexandrite was still looking up at Pearl. “You’re real great, Ms. Pearl.”

Pearl blushed. “No, no, I’m just… I…” she turned to the girls, sitting in front of them. “Um, Alexandrite, Sugilite, is there something you’d like to say to each other?”

Sugilite and Alexandrite glared away from each other, staring at the floor. Opal sat cross-legged, looking between them.

“Well?” Pearl tried to make her voice more firm, staring them down.

Finally, Alexandrite said, “I’m sorry I tackled ya. But you made the baby cry and you made Opal sad.”

“I didn’t wanna make Opal sad.” Sugilite muttered. “Opal’s my friend. I was jus mad that the bug got away.”

“Now, is there a better way to solve this than fighting?” Pearl asked.

“Nope.” Sugilite shook her head.

“Yes, there was. You could have just talked to each other, couldn’t you?”

Alexandrite thought for a second. “Huh. Maybe.”

“Kay, I’m sorry I made Opal sad.” Sugilite said, then turned to the younger girl. “Sorry, Opal.”

“It’s okay.” Opal smiled. “I’ve almost forgotten why I was sad. Not yet, but it’ll happen at some point today.”

“I’ll try notta make you sad again,” Sugilite nodded. “You’re our baby.”

“Sardonyx is the baby.” Opal pointed out.

“It’s a metaphor, Opal.” Pearl explained.

“Metaphor.” Opal repeated. “Metaphor. _Metaphor._ ” She then looked up at Pearl, looking happier. “Can you read us a story?” Opal asked.

“I suppose so.” Pearl said, sitting next to the girl, still cradling Sardonyx. Opal ran to the toy chest and pulled out a tattered storybook.

“Aw, Opal, we’ve heard those a bazillion-gillion times!” Alexandrite groaned.

“But then I forget em and I can hear em again!” Opal grinned, scooting up against Pearl and opening the book to the first page. “Start here!”

 

Bismuth opened the door, astonished. “Pearl?”

Pearl looked up from the floor, where Alexandrite was brushing her hair, and Opal was sitting on her lap, showing her how to make bracelets. Sugilite was seated next to her, showing her the dolls Bismuth’s mom had let her borrow.

“Oh, hello, Bismuth!” Pearl looked up, blushing again. “These girls are delightful!”

Bismuth looked down at her. “Um, some of your students were worried when they couldn’t find ya.”

Pearl’s eyes widened, horrified, as she pulled out her phone to see a stream of texts that she’d missed. “Oh no!” she yelled as she saw several of the boys on the Group Chat screaming about how she’d been murdered. She quickly sent an “I’ll be right up” and stood up.

“No! Stay with… with us!” Opal had to pause to yawn in the middle of her protest.

“You have to sleep!” Bismuth laughed. “It’s gettin late, girls.”

“But Ms. Bismuth, we’re not tired!” Sugilite said, before collapsing on the floor, already asleep.

“Ugh, honestly.” Pearl said as she picked up the sleeping girl and placed her on top of the sleeping bag, smiling a little. She turned to Alexandrite and Opal. “You, too. You need eight hours of proper sleep in order to be healthy.”

“Tha’s boring.” Opal protested as she yawned again.

“Sleep.” Pearl directed the girls to their beds. They wished her a goodnight, she wished them some back, and waved goodbye to the children as she left with Bismuth.

She looked down at her phone again, seeing several kids yelling, asking where she’d been, with some of them convinced she was a ghost. She sent, “I was with Bismuth. Go to sleep or so help me none of you are going to the Tournament tomorrow.”

“You’re really good with the kids.” Bismuth told her, looking surprised.

“Me? Oh, no, they’re just agreeable children.” Pearl protested.

“Those kids? They’ve done nothing but fight since Mom brought em here.”

“Why _are_ they here?” Pearl asked hesitantly, glancing backwards to make sure Opal hadn’t followed them.

“They were all in the same Foster Home since Opal was a baby, and, well, Mom found out that they weren’t in a safe house. They’re stayin here for now, but we’re probably gonna have to separate them at some point.”

Pearl looked up, horrified. “ _Separate them_?”

“Yeah. Nobody wants to take in four kids who do nothing but fight.”

“But they do other things! Sure, Sugilite likes to argue, but they look out for each other! Alexandrite’s always there to make sure Opal’s not wandering off and Opal keeps Sugilite from punching everything, and Sugilite and Alexandrite do mean well, they really loved to listen to stories…”

Bismuth laughed and put a hand on Pearl’s shoulder. “How long were you with them?”

Pearl checked the clock on her phone, and paled. “ _Four hours._ ” She was going to be really tired tomorrow.

“Four hours? Mom can barely stand one!”

Pearl looked up at Bismuth. “The girls are really going back into the system?”

“Yeah. Unless someone wants to adopt all four of em.”

Hmm.

 

“Hello, Pearl!” Rose waved from the other end of the video chat, smiling brightly.

“How’s it going?” Garnet asked next to her, flipping through a magazine.

“Yeah, how’s life in the big city goin?” Amethyst asked from beside Rose, with a burrito including Heaven Knows What sitting half-eaten in front of her.

“Well,” Pearl struggled to speak, wondering how her roommates and former girlfriend would take the news. “I’m a mother now.”

There was dead silence on the other side, as the three women stared in shock at her. After another beat, Garnet pulled down her glasses in order to look Pearl in the eye, a blank expression on her face, before she spoke what they were all thinking.

“I thought you were gay.”

“No! No! Well, I am, but that’s not what… you see, there’s these four girls-”

“Four?” Garnet asked.

“You’re far enough along to know their gender?” Rose added.

“Ouch.” interjected Amethyst.

“NO! _I’m not pregnant_!”

“Oh, good.” Amethyst grinned.

“I’m adopting.”

The silence returned.

“Four of them. Also, Child Services is coming by the house to make sure it’s suitable. Amethyst has to clean up her mess.”

“Um, Pearl,” Rose began, looking very confused, “Please tell us exactly what happened.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I have no idea how the world works. Feel free to tell me if I got anything major wrong. :)


	2. Welcome Home

Chapter Two

 

“Welcome Home!” Pearl cheered, throwing open the door.

The girls started screaming and ran in, tackling the first person they saw- who happened to be Amethyst.

“Hey! Ow, Pearl, get your kids under control!” Amethyst yelled.

Garnet, Amethyst and Rose had set up a “Welcome Home” party, with a large banner and balloons; not much else, as they’d been in a rush. Greg and Rainbow had come, too, and were standing by Rose.

“Sorry, they’re just excited.” Pearl said, coming forward, and dropping two large bags on the ground, causing them to make a large thump. She pulled the kids off of Amethyst one by one, careful not to wake Sardonyx, who was sleeping in the babybjörn on her back. She pulled Opal off last, who was clinging desperately to the woman. “I love you so much!” she exclaimed.

“Uh, sure… _you_.” Amethyst said, while standing up.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Pearl directed the girls towards the others; Alex and Sugi were already trying to wander away. “This is Alexandrite, Sugilite and Opal.” she gestured to each of them as she introduced. “And _this_ is Sardonyx.” she turned around to show them the sleeping child. “They’re so _beautiful_ , aren’t they?”

“I’m not pretty.” Sugilite scoffed.

“Yes you are, dear.” Pearl sighed. “Girls, those are my roommates, Amethyst and Garnet, and that’s my… my friend, Rose, her husband, Greg, and their foster daughter, Rainbow.”

Rainbow looked upset, and glared at the ground as the adults said their hellos, crossing her arms and letting out a huff. Pearl noticed this, but didn’t say anything yet. “Girls, this is where we live.”

“Your house is smaller than Bismuth’s mom’s, but it’s a lot bigger than our old house.” Alex informed her, then looked around at the other people gathered. “Do you have food?”

“Uh, yeah we’ve got food!” Amethyst cheered, shepherding the girls to the table, which contained two bowls of chips, a small plate of vegetables, home-grown in Rose’s garden, and a large cake that they had collaborated in making- meaning that Amethyst tried to put a pizza into it, Garnet applied far too much icing and Rose had to instruct them on most of the baking.

As they walked to the food, Pearl pulled Rainbow aside, bending over to get to the nine-year-old’s eye level. “Is there something wrong, Rainbow?”

Rainbow glared down at the ground. “I thought that _I_ was your favorite!”

Pearl kept very careful, trying not to laugh. That definitely wouldn’t cheer up the girl. “Rainbow, you are a great little girl, and I love you, but I can love more than one person at a time, okay?”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Fine. You’ll still come to my dance recitals, right?”

“Of course. And I can bring my girls with me, too, so you’ll have more people to cheer you on.”

Rainbow didn’t look convinced, so Pearl sat down and took the Babybjörn off, pulling out the sleeping Sardonyx. “Would you like to hold her?” she asked Rainbow.

“Uh, sure.” the girl shrugged as Pearl handed her the baby.

“Now, be sure to support her neck, like Rose showed you. No! Not like _that_ ! Be _careful_ , she’s only an infant.”

“I’m not gonna drop ‘er, Aunt Pearl.” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “I’ve gotta hold a baby doll in our next ballet rehearsal, I know whatta do.”

Garnet saw them and separated from the group, leaning over. “Can I hold her, Rainbow?”

“Sure. I want cake anyway.” Rainbow shrugged, letting Garnet take the baby. As she wandered off, Garnet and Pearl stood up.

“It was very nice of you to adopt these girls.” Garnet told her. “Otherwise they would’ve been separated.”

“Well, we did click while in Empire City.” Pearl shrugged, looking down at the baby and running her fingers through the blonde tufts, smiling gently. “And we spent a lot of time together the week we were there. I think Alexandrite really liked the tournament, and the other students just _loved_ the girls. Really kept their nerves calmed.”

“Geez, Pearl, what’s _in_ these?” asked Amethyst, and Pearl turned around to see Amethyst peering into the bags she’d brought in with her.

“Oh! I got those in Empire City! It’s all the Parenting Equipment I could get! I’ve got three more bags in the car!”

“I can’t even pick these up.” Amethyst’s eyes widened as Pearl started pulling things out of the bag.

“I’ve got _tons_ of parenting books, and lots of toys and things, and I got several educational materials, and-”

“Pearl,” Pearl froze as she heard Rose behind her, her voice soothing and calm, “This is a little overboard.”

“Nothing is overboard when I have to take care of four children now!” Pearl turned around, grinning. “I’ve got everything I could possibly need! All the baby stuff is in the trunk, until-”

“Pearl, I have plenty of things for you to borrow…”

“No, really! I can handle it! We can use the extra guest room and turn it into a bedroom for the girls- I’ve got beds on order, they should be here soon- and I called Garnet's parents, they’re coming later with the old crib for Sardonyx, and-”

“Calm _down_ , P!” Amethyst said from behind her.

“But… _I’m a mother now!_ I need to take care of them!” Pearl protested.

“Yes, but you still have us.” Garnet said, coming up, too. “We’re here to help, Pearl, and honestly?” she picked a book off the floor. “You aren’t gonna need this book on raising teens for at least a few more years.”

“I wanted it handy just in case…” Pearl muttered, “Anyway, I can’t ask you to help me with everything, I’m the one who decided to adopt four kids I’d known for only four hours…”

“Four hours? Honestly, I’m surprised it took that long for you to want to take them home.” Amethyst rolled her eyes.

“I-”

“Pearl, calm down.” Rose put a hand on Pearl’s shoulder, still smiling down at her. “They’re your kids now, yes, but we’re your friends. Plus, Garnet and Amethyst have to live with them now.”

“Yeah, they better not wake me up in the middle of the night.” Amethyst interjected.

“Just lock your door, I’ll tell them to get me if they need anything.” Pearl told her. “I might put Sardonyx in my room anyway, since she’ll wake up the girls if she cries at night.”

As if on cue, Sardonyx woke up and started crying. Pearl tried to take her from Garnet, but Garnet pulled away. “Garnet!”

“I’ll take care of it. When was the last time she ate?”

“We fed her right before we left Bismuth’s.”

“That’s a long drive.” Rose observed.

Pearl sighed. “It’s alright, I’ve got formula and bottles in my car…”

“I’ve got it.” Garnet said, walking over to the fridge and pulling out a baby bottle.

Pearl looked astonished. “How did you-”

“When you told us you were bringing an infant, we went out and bought some stuff for her.” Amethyst explained as Garnet came back over, now with a less noisy Sardonyx. “Did you think we’d just sit around playing video games while you got everything done?”

“Um-”

“Yeah, don’t answer that.”

Pearl looked down at the baby in Garnet’s hands, who looked very calm and content. “She really likes you.” she told Garnet. “When did you get good with kids?”

“Remember when I was visiting my Aunt a few years ago?” Garnet asked. “When she had her baby? Yeah. She had five.”

“Oh, that’s why you stayed for so long.” Amethyst sighed. “Why didn’t you tell us? That would’ve been a fun story!”

“Not important.” Garnet shrugged, as Sardonyx reached up and tried to grab her glasses. “Hello, little one. I’m Garnet.”

Sardonyx didn’t respond.

Pearl turned around to see Greg playing a song on his guitar, while Rainbow showed Opal how to do a dance, and got increasingly frustrated as Opal forgot what she was doing and kept wandering off. Meanwhile, Alexandrite and Sugilite watched curiously, sitting cross-legged on the floor. After a second, Alexandrite and Sugilite stood and started to dance, laughing.

“Hey, that looks like fun!” Amethyst grabbed Pearl’s hand and dragged her over. “Come on, P!”

“Amethyst, no. _No_. Amethyst!” Pearl’s protests went unheard as Amethyst dragged her out. Garnet and Rose laughed and waved from the side as Amethyst started dancing with the kids, and Pearl stood completely still.

“Come on, Ms. Pearl!” Alex called, and dragged her in to dance with her.

Pearl danced with Alexandrite for a bit, laughing as the music got faster and Alexandrite started doing more and more ridiculous dances, which were matched by Amethyst and Sugilite. Rainbow had given up trying to dance normally, and joined in. Opal started eating a little, until she got excited by the activity and joined in. Rose looked like she might like to join in, but decided instead to take a video on her camera. “Pearl’s kids’ first day with us!” she whispered as she recorded, then turned to the baby Garnet was holding. “Say hello, Sardonyx.”

Sardonyx, who was still being fed by Garnet, just looked at her curiously, and tried to grab the camera.

Rose turned back to the dancers, smiling. Raising four children at once wasn’t going to be easy, sure, but she could already tell that it was going to be worth it.

 

“This is your room.” Pearl told them, as she and Amethyst rolled out their sleeping bags. “We’ll get you all beds soon, but I’ve got a corner of the room for each of you, so you can all have your own personal space, and we’ll add Sardonyx when she gets old enough, and if Rainbow ever wants to sleep over she can sleep right in the middle here! We can move your things in tomorrow after everyone’s settled.”

“Yay!” Opal cheered as she ran in and immediately plopped on her bag. “IT’S SO PRETTY IN HERE!”

“Wait until I get a hold of it.” Amethyst smirked.

Opal looked up, giggling. “Well, whatever you make’ll be jus’ as pretty as you are.”

Amethyst’s eyes widened in surprise, which she tried to hide by pulling on her bangs and glancing away. “Oh, er, sure. Yeah, kid.” Pearl laughed as she showed Alex and Sugilite where they were sleeping.

“Wait,” Alex protested, “Wha’ about Sardonyx?”

“Sardonyx’ll be in my room so she doesn’t wake you up at night.” Pearl told her.

The girls looked surprised, and a little upset. “But she’s always been with us.” Sugilite said.

“She will be once she’s old enough to sleep in a bed and not a crib.” Pearl assured them. “Unless we move somewhere else and we can get you each an individual room.”

“No!” Alex and Sugilite yelled, while Opal shook her head furiously,

“We’ve always been together.” Alex informed her.

Pearl didn’t know what to say, but Amethyst definitely did. “Wait until you’re in High School. You’ll want your own space so much you’ll wanna strangle each other.”

“Would that hurt?” Opal asked, worry crossing her face.

Amethyst laughed and crossed over to the youngest, ruffling her hair. “What I’m saying is, it won’t always be like this.”

“Yeah, but we can be together as long as we want now, right, Pearl?” Alex asked, looking up. “Tha’s the point, right?”

Pearl nodded. “Yeah. As long as you guys want.”

“Thank you, Pearl.” Opal said, leaning against Amethyst and yawning.

“Alright, it’s lights out for the little ones.” Garnet said, entering, and holding a now sleeping Sardonyx.

“Can we say goodnight to her?” Alex asked, gesturing to the baby in Garnet’s arms.

“Of course!” Pearl nodded, and the girls walked over to Sardonyx.

“We’ll see ya tomorrow.” Alex said to her.

“Then we’ll have our stuff we can show you!” Sugilite told her.

“I don’t think she can hear us,” Opal informed them, “She’s asleep.”

Pearl laughed as the girls wished the baby goodnight and walked back to their side of the room. Opal looked lost for a second, until Alex and Sugilite sat down and she walked to her bag, figuring out which one it was by process of elimination.

“Goodnight, Pearl.” Alex waved. “An’ Amethyst an’ Garnet.”

“Goodnight.” they said as they left. Pearl gently closed the door and turned the light off, sighing and turning around.

“Well, that was day one. Let’s see how far we can get before one of us dies of stress.” Pearl said, clapping her hands together.

“Nobody’s going to die, Pearl.” Garnet told her.

“Everybody dies eventually.” Amethyst interrupted, but a glare from Garnet shushed her.

“Anyway, Rose and I put the crib in your room, but Rose had to leave. Rainbow has a dance rehearsal tomorrow.”

“Her ballet recital is coming soon?” Pearl asked, confused.

“No, her acting studio is doing some sort of show that involves a lot of dancing. I don’t remember what, but it wasn’t _Footloose_.” Garnet informed her, with a hint of disappointment that Rainbow’s studio wasn’t doing said musical.

“I think it was _Newsies_.” Amethyst informed Pearl.

“Well, anyway, we should finish bringing our bags in. I got a lot for the girls inbetween tournament fights, because I would take them shopping to keep them from getting bored- oh, I’m not _spoiling_ them, am I?”

“Pearl, you need to calm down.” Amethyst rolled her eyes. “Also, Greg and I brought your bags in while you were trying to stop the food fight. They’re in the back.”

Pearl didn’t know what to say to that, so she stood for a second before pulling Amethyst and Garnet into a hug.

“Whoa! Okay…” Amethyst said. “It’s no big deal, P.”

“You’re just so helpful, both of you.” Pearl said, trying not to cry. “I didn’t… I… I’m just so glad to have you.”

“We’re glad to have you, too.” Garnet told her, as they pulled away. “Now, let’s put Sardonyx in her crib.”

“You’ve been holding her all day.” Pearl observed as they walked towards Pearl’s room, Amethyst calling out a farewell as she walked into hers. “You’re really good with her.”

“She’s a lot like Navy,” Garnet explained, “One of my younger cousins. She’s very peaceful. A lot like Lacey, too, except Lacey is a lot more confused by everything. Sardonyx is pretty calm.”

“I guess she is.” Pearl said, as they put her down. Sardonyx simply slept, undisturbed by her change in surroundings.

“You should sleep, too.” Garnet told Pearl. “Something tells me you didn’t do much of that all last week.”

“Not that much.” Pearl admitted. “But still, I should clean something up, or unpack my bags…”

“We’ll take care of it.” Garnet assured her. “Don’t worry. Everything is going to be fine.”

Pearl sighed, looking down at Sardonyx, sleeping peacefully. “I hope so.”


	3. Lost

Chapter Three

 

“Amethyst, did you bring the list in?” Pearl asked, carefully placing Sardonyx in the front of the shopping cart, as the girl started playing with the toy horse she’d gotten her.

“Sure, P. Hasn’t got anything fun on it, though.” Amethyst complained as she handed the handwritten shopping list to her roommate.

“This outing isn’t about _fun_ , Amethyst,” Pearl chided as they walked into the Grocery Store, glancing behind her quickly to make sure that everyone was still together. “We’re stocking up on food for the week.”

“Can we get candy?” Opal asked, holding hands with Alexandrite.

“Depends on the budget.” Pearl told her.

“Tha’s a maybe.” Alex whispered to the younger girl.

“Should we split up?” Amethyst asked, eyeing the list again- it was much longer than they normally had, which was to be expected, now that they had four more people living with them.

“No, I don’t want you to get lost and end up in the lobster tank.”

“Come on, that was _one_ time!”

“We don’t want to lose anyone, it’s a big store- Sugi, can you put that in the cart?”

Sugilite nodded and put a bundle of bananas into the cart, as Pearl read off the list.

“We’ll be buying mostly fruit, but I do have requests for Pasta Noodles, several types of sauce, ice cream and… _no, Amethyst._ ”

“Aw, really?” Amethyst rolled her eyes.

“ _No_. We’re going to be responsible parents.”

“Maybe you should’ve asked Garnet to come with ya instead.” Amethyst complained.

“Garnet’s setting up the furniture in the girls’ room.” Pearl reminded her. “And I can’t keep track of them by myself- Alex, can you get those?”

“So why didn’t you just bring _Rose_ with you?” Amethyst exclaimed, before realizing what she’d said. Pearl looked upset, closing her eyes and staying silent. “I, oh man, I’m sorry, P.”

“It’s… it’s alright. Maybe I should’ve…” Pearl turned around, and immediately turned pale. “Opal?” The women looked around, starting to panic. “ _Opal_?”

Pearl turned to Alexandrite. “Where’d she go?”

Alexandrite shrugged. “I told ‘er to stay put while I put stuff in the cart.”

Pearl started breathing sharply, her eyes growing wide. “No, no! She wandered off, oh _no_ -”

“This is bad!” Amethyst said.

“Okay, we need a plan.” Pearl said. “What did I tell you guys to do if you got lost?”

“Go to the cashier or a mommy with kids.” Sugi repeated.

“Yes, but Opal might not remember! Oh dear, okay, I’ll go to management and ask for help, Alex, you come with me. Amethyst, you and Sugi look through the store. Text me if you’ve found her, okay?”

“Meet you in the ice cream aisle when we find her!” Amethyst told her, grabbing Sugilite’s hand.

The groups split, running off to find the lost girl.

 

Opal looked around. Where had everyone gone? Amethyst and Pearl were fighting, and so she walked away to get away from the noise… how far had she gone? She’d seen something shiny, maybe… she didn’t remember what it had turned out to be. The store suddenly seemed very big. She’d lost Pearl and she’d have to wander around until she ended up lost for the rest of her life and she’d have to eat the garbage the store people threw out and she’d never see her sisters again and she’d never get to see Sardonyx say her first word and she’d never learn how to spell “lactose intolerant” or read _Nancy Drew_ or do math!

Wait, hadn’t Pearl said something about getting lost? What was she supposed to do, again? She didn’t know, so she kept wandering, hoping to run into her group. She passed a couple aisles, trying to spot somebody she recognized. She only saw a couple of people, usually single or with two or three friends. They all scared her, so she kept moving. She turned into a snack food aisle, thinking that maybe Amethyst would be there, and ended up colliding with another child.

Opal fell to the ground, overwhelmed, and started crying. “Oh no! ‘m sorry!” said the girl she’d bumped into, trying to help her up. “Mommy, I made her sad!”

Opal looked up as a tall woman came closer, her hair a dark color. “It’s okay, Mala, you didn’t see her.” she assured the girl, then turned to Opal. “Are you okay?”

Opal shook her head, her pigtails bouncing. “I los’ Pearl and my sisters.”

“Oh no! What happened?” the woman asked, bending over and looking Opal in the eye.

“I don’ remember. I think Pearl and Amethyst were arguin’ and I got sad and then I turn around and they’re gone.”

“Okay, we can help you find them. What do they look like?”

Opal was confused for a second, lacking the words. Then, “Pearl is tall, I think, and she’s got black hair, an’ Amethyst is short and Alex and Sugi are abou’ her age.” she gestured to the little girl- she’d forgotten what her mother had called her already.

“Okay, we can try to get you back to them, don’t worry.” the woman nodded. “Mala, can you hold her hand?”

“Kay.” Mala nodded and grabbed Opal’s hand. “Come on, Mommy will take care of you until we can find your mommy.”

Opal nodded, following the two as the woman started walking, looking for an employee who could direct them to the person in charge.

“Did Pearl tell you to go somewhere if you got lost?” the woman asked.

“I don’t know.” Opal told her. “I don’t know a lot.”

“That’s okay.” the woman told her. “Where were they last?”

“I don’t know!” Opal started crying again. “I should ‘member!”

“It’s really alright.” the woman assured her, stopping to look her in the eye again. “They won’t leave without you, so we should be able to find them.”

“They won’t?” Opal asked, relieved.

“Of course not.”

Suddenly, the woman looked up. “Did you hear that?”

Opal listened, and she could hear a distant calling- her name? Who would be calling her name?

“Is that your family?” the woman asked.

Opal was excited, of course! “Yes!” she exclaimed, and the woman took her and Mala towards the sound of the voices. “It’s Amethyst and Sugi!” she informed the girl next to her.

They turned a bend, and indeed saw Amethyst and Sugilite- running down the aisles, calling her name. “She’s over here!” the woman yelled to them, and Amethyst turned around, confused, then relieved.

“Opal!”

Opal let go of Mala’s hand and ran to Amethyst, giving her a big hug. “You didn’t forget me!” she yelled, grinning.

“Course not, you’re our problem now.” Amethyst laughed, ruffling her hair. “Hey, give Sugi a hug. I need to tell Pearl we found ya.”

Opal nodded, still grinning, before jumping on Sugilite, almost tackling her.

“Thank you so much!” Amethyst smiled up at the woman and her daughter as she sent a quick text to her roommate.

“It’s no problem. I’d want someone to do the same if Mala ever went missing.” the woman shrugged and ruffled her daughter’s hair.

“ _Mom_ ,” Mala groaned, ducking away. Her mother laughed, but stopped.

“My roommate’s in the Ice Cream aisle, waiting for us.” Amethyst explained, as Opal grabbed her hand.

“Oh, we were just going there!” The Mother said. “Mala needs Ice Cream for her school party.”

“I’m in _Kindergarten_!” Mala looked extremely proud of herself.

“Sweet. I’m sure you’re having fun.” Amethyst said as the group wandered down the aisles, looking for the coldest one. “What’s your favorite ice cream?”

“Mint Chocolate Chip!” Mala told her, grinning.

“I like Chocolate.” Sugilite interrupted, grabbing a hold of Opal’s other hand.

“I don’ remember what I like.” Opal smiled.

They entered the aisle, where Amethyst caught a glimpse of Pearl waiting anxiously with Alex, Sardonyx and the cart, before Opal tore away from her and Sugilite and threw herself at Pearl in a hug.

“Opal!” Pearl exclaimed, looking the girl over. “Are you okay? Did you get hurt?”

“Nope! The nice lady helped me find Amethyst!” Opal informed her, gesturing behind her. “At least I think she did. Right?”

Neither Pearl nor Mala’s mother responded, staring at each other for a good few seconds. “Lapis?” Pearl finally spoke, looking bewildered.

“Pearl?” Lapis looked equally confused, and a little sad, though she quickly masked her expression before the younger kids caught on. “I, uh, didn’t know this was your kid.”

“Lapis, we haven’t seen you since College! Where did you go? Half the kids were convinced you _died_.”

“Well, Hallelujah.” Lapis sarcastically crossed her arms, a pose which Mala copied. Lapis noticed her, then introduced, “This is my daughter Malachite.”

“Hi!” Mala waved, her imitation of Lapis’s cold distance gone.

“Uh, you guys know each other?” Amethyst asked, feeling a little left out.

“I was the weird Art Student at Pearl’s College.” Lapis explained. “Til I, er, transferred. Apparently the teachers never told you guys this.”

“Oh, they told us. But did you really think a class full of people like _Peridot_ would believe them?” Pearl raised an eyebrow. “Peridot still thinks _The X-Files_ was based on true events.”

“But it is.” Mala protested, confusion evident on her face.

“Anyway, it looks like you’ve managed to have four kids in the six years since I saw you.” Lapis looked at the children. “And one of them is, like, seven.”

“We were ‘dopted last week.” Sugilite informed her.

“All of you?”

“It’s a long story.” Pearl shrugged. “Why are you in the neighborhood?”

“I live here.” Lapis stated bluntly. “I’m a lifeguard at the pool. Just moved a few weeks ago. Why are you here?”

“ _I_ live here!” Pearl exclaimed. “I teach swordfighting now!”

Lapis’s gaze shifted to Pearl’s uniform shirt for Crystal Academy, with its Crystal Star logo. “Isn’t that Rose’s family's school?”

“Yes. She lives here, too. And Garnet, and sometimes Bismuth.”

“And me, hi.” Amethyst waved.

“Ugh, of course. Just so happens that College Reunion happens to be in the one place…” Lapis trailed off and looked down at Mala, who had gotten bored and started playing rock-paper-scissors with Alexandrite. “We should probably hurry up.”

“Um, thank you for finding my daughter.” Pearl said, forgetting if she had said it earlier or not.

“Thanks, Ms. Lapis!” Opal waved, grinning.

“You’re welcome.” Lapis shrugged. “Wasn’t a problem. What Ice Cream did you want again, Mal?”

Mala looked up, grinning. “Mint chocolate chip!”

Lapis nodded and pulled out a container.

“Bye, Ms. Lapis!” Opal waved, while Alex and Sugi waved goodbye to Mala.

Lapis left, with a waving Malachite trailing behind her.

“Well, that was weird.” Amethyst said to break the silence.

“I like Mala. She’s fun.” Alex shrugged.

Pearl stared after Lapis, sadness and curiosity mixed in her gaze. Sardonyx grabbed onto her arm, looking up at her. Pearl sighed and looked down at the girls. “Alright, let’s add ‘classroom rope’ to the list and pick it up on the way home.”

“Why?” Opal asked.

Pearl sighed and started explaining to Opal and the girls, while Amethyst went to grab a container of ice cream. When she was sure the girls were paying attention to Pearl, she took her turn looking after where Lapis and Malachite had disappeared.

They were definitely something she needed to ask Pearl about later.


	4. School Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! Thank you SO much for your nice comments, they really make my day! You all are so nice! :)

Chapter Four

 

“And then America had the revolution?” Alexandrite asked, starting to get bored. 

“No, not yet.” Garnet sighed. “We’re still studying Jamestown.”

“And that’s not close?” Alex asked. 

“No.”

Alex groaned and put her head in her hands. “Revolutions are more fun.”

“Yes, but if we had revolutions all the time, we wouldn’t ever be able to take a break.” Garnet explained. 

“Garnet!” Amethyst yelled from the other room. “Sardonyx is cryin’ again!”

Garnet stood up. “Hold on a second,” she told the older girl, and walked down the hall, to where Sardonyx had been taking a nap. She picked her up, rocking her gently until she calmed down. Sardonyx looked up at Garnet, a wide smile on her face as she recognized her. 

“Hello again.” Garnet waved, smiling. “How did you sleep?”

Sardonyx reached for Garnet’s glasses again, a sparkle in her eyes. Garnet took them off and allowed her to grab them, watching carefully to make sure she wouldn’t accidentally poke herself in the eye. The baby seemed fascinated by the glasses, turning them over in her hands, which only barely managed to grip the edge. “Here,” Garnet sighed, moving the glasses so that Sardonyx was wearing them- or as close as possible, they were much too big for her. Sardonyx looked astonished at the change in colors, glancing around the room with curiosity and surprise. She looked back up at the taller woman, smiling to see her eyes, and letting out a little laugh. 

“How do you  _ do  _ that?” Garnet turned to see Amethyst leaning on the door, Sugilite and Opal trailing behind her. 

“Do what?”

“Make her be quiet. Only you and Pearl can do that, she just cries when I try to hold her.”

“It’s probably not personal, Amethyst.” Garnet assured her. “Sardonyx is just very picky.”

“Yeah, we noticed.” Amethyst rolled her eyes. 

Opal came closer, giving Sardonyx a kiss on the cheek. “You’re lucky, Sard. You don’t hafta learn to read for another few years.”

“You’ll get it, Opal. You jus’ have to wait.” Sugilite said, also coming up. 

Opal looked up at Garnet’s face, confused- she’d never seen Garnet without her glasses before, and was surprised to find one eye was a light brown, and the other was a dark blue. “Your eyes a different colors.”

“Yes.” Garnet sighed, bending down. “I have heterochromia, which means my eyes are different colors and are very sensitive to light. So I have to wear the glasses.”

“So light hurts your eyes?” Opal asked. 

“Mm-hmm.”

“Then why’d you give your glasses to Sardonyx? You're gonna get hurt!”

Garnet laughed. “I can take the glasses off for a little bit. I’m not gonna explode!”

“Are you sure?” Sugilite asked, crossing her arms. 

“Positive.” Garnet nodded. 

“I'm  _bored!_ ” Alexandrite asked, walking up and joining Amethyst in the doorway. “What are y'all doing? ”

“Garnet's gonna explode.” Sugi shrugged.

"I'm  _not_." Garnet assured the girls, as Opal gasped and stepped back.

“Does that mean History’s over for the day?” Alex asked, hopefully. 

“No.” 

They then heard a door slam, and a sing-song voice calling, “I’m back!”

“Okay, yeah. History’s over for the day.” Garnet sighed as the girls tumbled over themselves, running off to go see Pearl. “Can I have my glasses back, Sardonyx?”

Sardonyx didn’t respond, staring up at her. Garnet slowly took her glasses off if the baby and put them back on herself, watching as the baby adjusted her eyes again to the different lighting, squinting. Garnet followed the girls after Pearl, trailed by Amethyst. 

She turned into the atrium, seeing Pearl talking to the girls, bent down at their eye level, describing her class that day. The girls looked fascinated at her descriptions of the swordfighting, asking for updates on specific students. 

“Well, Nick broke his arm so he had to miss class today- don’t worry, he only broke it skateboarding off a fountain, it could have been much worse- and Erna and Jalila got back together, which is nice for them but it means I have to deal with them kissing everytime I turn my back.”

“Yay!” Opal cheered, fully invested in the love lives of two people she barely knew or remembered.

“Nice! You’re back! I’m goin’ out.” Amethyst said, squeezing past Pearl and the girls and heading for the door, a bag slung over her shoulder.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Pearl asked, turning around to face her roommate.

“Classes, P. Gotta get that degree eventually.” Amethyst turned to face her, now walking backwards.

“Classes?” Alexandrite asked.

“Yeah, for school.”

The girls looked astonished. “But you’re a grown-up!” Sugilite protested. “You can’t be in school!”

“Last year of it, hopefully.” Amethyst shrugged. “But not if I have to skip class, so catch you later!”

She left, slamming the door behind her. Pearl sighed and stood up, in order to lock it. “I forgot her break was last week. It’ll be weird now.”

“Aren’t her classes usually during the day?” Garnet asked. “Why’re they this late all of the sudden?”

“Oh, I hope she didn’t reschedule them!” Pearl worried, walking back over to the girls. “I’d feel so bad if she had to change classes…”

“Why does she have to go to school?” Opal asked, still confused. “She’s all grown up!”

“You don’t get out of school until you’re in your twenties.” Pearl explained. “And like Amethyst said, this is most likely her last year.”

“Aw!” Alexandrite looked upset. “Does that mean I hafta do school  _ forever _ ?”

The adults laughed, and Garnet was the one who replied. “Not forever. Pearl and I aren’t in school anymore.”

“Yeah, but Pearl still has to go!” Sugilite pointed out.

“Well, I’m a teacher.” Pearl explained. “And you don’t have to be a teacher if you don’t want.”

“I wanna be an apple farmer!” Alex announced, looking very pleased with herself, her green eyes sparkling.

“I wanna beat stuff up!” Sugilite told them, which made Pearl look very worried.

“I wanna be a GIANT WOMAN!” Opal grinned, throwing her arms up. “I’m gonna be even taller than  _ Garnet _ !”

“Wouldn’t that be something.” Garnet giggled, leaning down. “What do you think Sardonyx wants to be?”

“I think she wants to sleep.” Opal explained. “Hi, Sard!”

Sardonyx giggled at Opal and grabbed one of her pigtails, gnawing on it.

Opal’s eyes glittered, grinning down at the baby. “She loves me!”

“Alright,” Pearl interrupted, checking the time on her phone, “We should eat soon. What do you want for dinner?”

“Ice cream!” Sugilite yelled.

“Um, how about… not that?” Pearl muttered.

“Amethyst already made something before she left.” Garnet explained. “She left it in the fridge. Alex, why don’t you guys go get it?”

“Yay! Surprise food!” Alex cheered and ran off, closely followed by Sugilite and Opal.

“Pearl…” Garnet placed a hand on Pearl’s shoulder, stopping her from moving. “Amethyst told me you ran into Lapis at the store.”

Pearl sighed, turning around. “Yes. She… she was there.”

There was pause, before, “So she  _ wasn’t  _ abducted by aliens?”

Pearl laughed, as Garnet smiled at her joke. “No, no, what a shock that Peridot was wrong about that, right? No, she got transferred… I think…”

“You think?” Garnet asked. 

“She seemed so distant, even moreso than when she announced her art piece was the band-aid she’d found at the pool, representing the band-aid she’d found at the pool.”

“I remember that!” Garnet smiled. “Our art teacher nearly slapped her.”

“Yes, well, she also hesitated before telling us what had happened, looked upset when she found out most of our class lived here, and…” Pearl paused, looking down at Sardonyx so she wouldn’t have to look up at Garnet. “She had her daughter with her.”

“She had a daughter? ”

“Yes. I mean, she said she was hers, and I didn’t ask if she was hers by birth, or if she was adopted, because that would be rude, but I don’t think she mentioned a relationship, and she didn’t have a ring… it is possible she just…”

“Decided to adopt her after four hours?” Garnet asked. 

Pearl laughed again. “Yes. We… we shouldn’t be gossiping about her, it’s her life after all…”

“It’s alright to be worried, Pearl, especially since she just up and disappeared.”

Pearl nodded. “I know, it’s just… we should see how the girls are doing. Alex should’ve found whatever Amethyst made by now.”

Garnet nodded. “Yes, let’s hope Alexandrite found the chicken nuggets we made instead of what’s left of the Welcome Cake.”


	5. Swim Lesson

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: This chapter features a near-drowning incident. Everyone survives (of course) but if that is potentially triggering to you than you might wanna skip this chapter.

Chapter Five

 

“Ms. Sapphire,” Alex asked, kicking the seat, “Are we there yet?”

“We’ll be there soon.” Sapphire assured her, smiling as she drove. “Don’t worry so much.”

“But what if we wander off?” Opal asked, horrified. 

“Opal,” Sapphire smiled, “We are in a car. If someone wanders off, don’t worry, they won’t get very far and we’ll be able to find them very easily.”

“Are you sure?”

“Sapphire’s always sure.” Ruby grinned. 

Sugilite looked up. “So we’re goin’ to the pool, right?” 

“We haven’t been to the pool yet.” Alex said. “In fact, I’ve never been to a pool.” 

“Our old foster mom didn’t take us.” Sugilite added. “Said it had chemicals or somethin.”

“We’re going to the  _ pool _ ?” Opal asked, eyes bright.

Sapphire laughed. “Yes, we’re going to the pool. That’s why we’re wearing swimsuits under our clothes.”

“Is it outside?” Opal asked.

“No, it’s an indoor pool.” Ruby told her. “We’re members there, so we’ll have lockers to put our stuff in.”

“Tha’s a good thing?” Sugi questioned, her head tilting. 

“Yes.” Ruby nodded. 

Sapphire pulled into a parking lot, a large, colorful building up ahead. “Does this mean we’re here?” Alex asked.

“Yes.” Sapphire confirmed. “Just wait until we park.”

“This is taking  _ forever _ .” Alex moaned, sliding down in her seat. 

“Sit up, Alex, that’s not safe.” Ruby called. 

“Not safe!” Opal repeated. 

“Wait,” Sugi asked as Sapphire pulled the car into a parking spot, “How’re we gonna swim?”

“Pearl got you guys a teacher.” Ruby explained. “She wanted to take you herself, but she had to work. Amethyst had classes and Garnet had a job interview, so we said we’d take ya.”

“We’ll just be in the back with Sardonyx.” Sapphire said, opening the door and pulling the baby out of her carseat. “You’ll all be fine.”

“Are you sure?” Alexandrite asked, worried. 

“What if we  _ drown _ ?” Opal’s eyes widened as she got out of the car, grabbing Sugilite’s hand. 

“You won’t drown.” Sapphire assured her. “You have a swim teacher and a lifeguard to watch out for you.”

“And us!” Ruby added, grabbing Alex’s hand as they crossed the parking lot. “We’ll be right there if you need anything!”

“Thanks, Ms. Ruby!” Alex grinned, before talking about how much swimming she wanted to get done.

“Is this the pool that Amethyst said had a waterfall?” Sugi asked.

Sapphire nodded, holding the door open for the others. “Yes. But they’re only on select times on Mondays and Thursdays.”

“Why?” Opal asked.

Sapphire thought. “You know, I really don’t know.”

She walked up to the front desk to give the person there the information they needed to check in, while Ruby distracted the girls. “What’ve you been doing recently?”

“Well, Pearl took us to the store and Opal got lost but we found her.” Alex began. “But we’ve mostly just hung out at home. Garnet and Amethyst teach us things and play games with us and when Pearl gets home we eat and she teaches us some stuff.”

“I remember a bunch of numbers!” Opal seemed very proud of herself, grinning. “I can count to twenty if I’m not stress-out.” 

“Wow, that’s really good!” Ruby grinned. “You must have worked really hard to get that far.”

Opal nodded. “Yeah, and I can count to twenty now.”

“That’s really cool!” Ruby nodded, confused as to whether she was simply stating a fact or had forgotten that she’d told Ruby that a second before.

“Okay, follow me!” Sapphire called, as she headed towards the door leading inward. The girls followed her, until she paused and slapped her forehead. “I forgot the bag in the car!” she turned around, and tried to pass Sardonyx off to Ruby. “Can you hold her for a sec?”

“No! No.” Ruby stepped back, a little surprised. “I don’t… um, I might…”

Sapphire smiled and calmly placed a hand on her wife’s shoulder. “Ruby? How many times were you scared you were going to drop Garnet, when she was a baby?”

“Uh, I don’t know, a lot?”

“And how many times did you drop her?”

Ruby sighed. “Zero.”

“You’re going to be fine.” Sapphire smiled and passed the baby off to Ruby. Ruby stiffened, looking down at Sardonyx, who was still asleep. After a second, she loosened up a little. “See?”

Ruby nodded. “Yeah.”

Sapphire nodded and ran off to grab the swim bag Pearl had prepared for them from the car, leaving Ruby with the girls.

“So…” Ruby turned back to the girls, who were all staring up at her. “What?”

“Garnet was a  _ baby _ ?” Opal asked, astonished. 

“Yeah.” Ruby laughed. 

“Everyone’s a baby at some point!” Alex told Opal, with a tone suggesting she was sharing a great secret.”

“Even Garnet?” Opal asked. 

Alex nodded seriously. 

“Wow.”

Ruby laughed a little. “What kind of things did they teach you in your old school?”

“We didn’t go to school.” Sugilite replied. 

Oh. 

“W-well, Pearl’s teaching you now. So you’ll be good!”

Opal scrunched up her face, thinking. She looked up again at Ruby, and asked, “Where do babies come from?”

Ruby nearly froze in place, panicking. What exactly was she supposed to say? The kid was  _ five _ , Garnet didn’t know until she was twice that age. But that was mainly cause she never asked and they figured they should explain  _ before  _ she hit puberty, and now Sugi and Alexandrite were looking up at her too…

“Um, well, they come from…” Ruby stuttered. “The… the ground!”

“The ground?” Alex asked skeptically. 

Thankfully, Sapphire came up behind her. “I got the bag! Who needed swim goggles, again?”

“I don’t know!” Opal announced. 

Sapphire sighed. “Come on, we’re going to be late.”

Ruby sighed as they walked in towards the locker room, where Sapphire sorted through goggles. She helped her sort the clothing into nice piles as the girls put the goggles on. Sardonyx was already in her swimsuit, and had woken up while they were putting inflatable arm bands on her, giggling. Ruby let Sapphire hold her again, as the small baby seemed to really like her. 

Sapphire led them to the door to the pool, which Ruby held open as the girls squealed and ran out, surveying the water ahead of them. “Don’t run!” Sapphire whispered to them, laughing, as they slowed. To their left were the pools marked out for laps in the water, and to the right was the pool designed more for fun than exercise, which deepened as it went on. 

“You’re swim teacher’s on the other side of the pool,” Sapphire told them, grabbing Opal’s hand. “This way.”

They walked for a bit, until Sugilite looked up, and waved at the Lifeguard on duty. “Hi, Ms. Lapis!”

Ruby and Sapphire looked up to see the lifeguard, whose hair was a dark shade of blue, glance down in surprise. Her eyes narrowed and she waved politely before scanning the water again. 

“Who is she?” Opal asked. 

“She found you in the store when you got lost.” Alex whispered. 

Opal thought for a second, then screamed, “Oh yeah! She did! HI, MS. LAPIS!”

Lapis waved again, this time not looking down. 

“IS MALA HERE?” Opal yelled, cupping her hands around her mouth. 

Lapis gestured to the pool area, where Mala was kicking at the water. 

“Girls, she’s on duty.” Sapphire informed them, pushing them a little so they kept walking. “We don’t want to distract her.”

“What’s she doin’?” Sugi crossed her arms and looked up, skeptical of the woman’s usefulness. 

“She’s a lifeguard.” Sapphire explained. “It’s her job to make sure no one gets hurt.”

“So she has to watch the entire pool?” Sugi asked. 

“Tha’ sounds hard.” Opal stated. 

“Yes, and so we shouldn’t distract her.”

Opal looked up at Lapis. “SORRY!”

“Shh!” Sapphire led the girls over to the swim teacher, who was sitting on the edge of the pool and waving. 

“Sapphy,” Ruby whispered as she realized the girls were thoroughly distracted by their teacher, “Was she the one who was abducted by aliens?”

“The lifeguard? I think so.” Sapphire affirmed, referencing the story Peridot had repeatedly told them whenever she and Garnet came home to study. 

“Was she also the one who made a piece of tinfoil her art project?”

Sapphire smiled a little, remembering Pearl at their house complaining about how little effort she put into her work. “Yes, probably.”

The girls ran up to their teacher, introducing themselves, as Opal asked if Mala was in their class. 

“Malachite? No, her lessons are before yours.” the teacher shrugged. “At the start of her mom’s shift.”

“Oh. Can she join us?” Opal asked. 

“I think she’s a little tired right now.” the instructor said. “We’ll start by doing some warm-ups.”

Ruby and Sapphire went to find a place to sit down, watching the girls learn to swim. The teacher had already been briefed on Opal’s short-term memory, so she was very patiently trying to help Opal remember what she was doing. Sapphire passed Sardonyx to a hesitant Ruby again, and turned to watch the rest of the pool. The hour ticked by, coming to a close as Sapphire saw Malachite walk towards the edge of the pool, book in hand, as she slipped and fell, causing a splash, as her book went flying from her hands and slid across the floor. 

Sapphire gasped, and Ruby looked up. “What? Is it the kids?”

Sapphire pointed to the deep end, whispering out Mala’s name. The girl resurfaced, gasping for air, before dropping again, unable to scream. 

Ruby looked up at the lifeguard, only to see her watching the other end of the pool, as a group of teenage divers were pushing each other around. She couldn’t see what was happening. “Sapphire?” Ruby turned, and saw her wife frozen, hand over her mouth, paralyzed. Almost on instinct, Ruby then jumped to her feet and ran to the lifeguard, yelling her name. Lapis looked down, annoyed, until Ruby, still with a baby in her hands, gestured to the deep end of the pool, where Mala was still struggling under the water. 

Lapis’s eyes widened as she dropped from her chair, blew her whistle loud, and jumped into the water. The swim teacher started clearing the pool, as Ruby’s view of Lapis and Malachite was blocked by swimmers and families leaving the pool. She felt one of the girls grab onto her legs, and looked down to see Alex, who looked up at her. “Wha’s wrong?”

Ruby was confused. What was she supposed to say?  _ Your friend is drowning because water is scary?  _ “Uh… uh, Mala just fell in wrong and didn’t swim right. She got into trouble and Lapis is saving her.”

“Oh! Can we help?” Sugi asked, eyes wide. 

“No, no, Lapis has it cover-” Ruby broke off as the girls ran off and passed through another group of kids, trying to make it to the front of the crowd. Ruby groaned and tried to pass through, too, holding Sardonyx closer to her so she didn’t slip. Sardonyx was awake and seemed to be sensing the tension in the air, as she was being very quiet, but wasn’t crying yet, something Ruby was eternally grateful for. 

Lapis’s voice yelled, “Make a space!” The crowd cleared as Ruby finally made it to the girls at the front, where Lapis had dragged Mala to the ground and was giving her CPR.

“What’s she doing?” Opal whispered, looking up. 

“She’s helping her breathe.” Ruby sighed with relief as Sapphire came up behind them, bending down behind the girls. “She swallowed too much water, and she needs more air in her lungs.”

“Oh.” the girls nodded, as Mala started to cough on the ground. 

“Mala? Mala! Are you okay?” Lapis asked, helping her sit up. “Someone called an ambulance, honey, you’re going to be alright.”

Mala started to cry, still coughing up water, grabbing onto Lapis and pulling her into a hug, bawling into her swimsuit. Lapis hugged her back, hiding her own terrified expression. “It’s okay, baby, you’re okay.”

Sapphire turned to Ruby, whispering to her. “I’ll talk to the girls’ swim teacher, tell her they’ll come next week.” she paused, before saying, “Thank you for doing that. I don’t know what happened… I just…”

“Froze up?” Ruby asked, turning to her. “It’s okay, you were overwhelmed.”

“But she could have  _ died _ , Ruby, and her mother was right there, can you imagine how terrible-”

“Sapphy,” Ruby interrupted, brushing her hand, “Stop focusing on what might have happened. She’s okay now.”

Sapphire sighed, and smiled a little. “Okay. Thanks, sweetie. I’ll go talk to their teacher.”

“Is Mala gonna be okay?” Opal asked, looking up. 

“Yeah.” Ruby assured her. “Why don’t we go wait in the car?”

The girls nodded, and Ruby edged around the crowd, careful to make room for Lapis, who was talking to Malachite through her coughing. Malachite was not looking good, looking as if she was threatening to pass out again. Sapphire waved as they left, which made Ruby blush a deep red. After all these years and she was still reduced to a giggling mess around Sapphire. 

“Why are we leaving again?” Opal asked. 

Ruby sighed. “Your swimming lesson is done. We’re going home.”

“Oh.” Opal nodded. “Okay. Are we going back?”

“Uh-huh, we have to see if Mala’s okay.” Alex explained. 

“What happened to Mala?”

Ruby sighed, looking down at the baby in her arms. Sardonyx looked up at her curiously, and reached up to grab her hair. She gurgled with joy when she managed to grab a hold of it, her eyes bright. Ruby stopped beside her car, looking down at the baby. “Hey,” she looked down at the kid, smiling. “I’m Ruby.”

Sardonyx didn’t seem to understand, but she smiled and cooed, pulling down a little more on Ruby’s hair. She grinned, extremely pleased with herself. 

Footsteps sounded behind them as Sapphire ran up. “Malachite will be fine, the doctors just got here. The swim teacher says… Ruby, are you alright?”

Ruby looked up at Sapphire, crying. “Yeah.”

“Oh no! Did we make you sad?” Sugi asked, worried. 

“No, no, she always cries around kids. You should have seen her when Garnet was little. She cried every day.”

Ruby nodded, slowly letting Sapphire take Sardonyx in order to put her in the carseat. “She was adorable.”

“ _ Garnet _ ?” Sugi seemed horrified at the very thought. 

“Well,” Opal shrugged, “At least Pearl wasn’t a baby, right?”

“No,” Sapphire chuckled, “Pearl was a baby, too.”

Opal’s world was crumbling around her. “ _ What _ ?”

 

Pearl was extremely confused when she got home from work, and Opal looked up from where she was playing with her sisters, and blurted, “Pearl,  _ how could you _ ?”

Pearl froze, terrified that she’d done something horrible. “How could I what?”

“How could you  _ be a baby? _ Why would you  _ do  _ that?”


	6. Playing Soldiers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been thinking about how this fic is going to work, which I'll discuss at the chapter's end. Also I may have used Lapis to vent and then started going into a bit of Lapis's backstory. Because I can, I guess. Have fun.

Chapter Six

 

“I’m not watching _The X-Files_ all night again.”

“Alright, Pearl.”

“Don’t ‘Alright, Pearl’ me, the last three times we’ve gone Peridot has made us marathon a season with her. I need sleep, have you seen what my students get up to? Lizzie stuck her saber in the toaster. In the _toaster_!”

“You’ve told us.”

“She could have _died_!”

From the backseat, Alex looked up at Amethyst. “What are they talkin’ bout?”

Amethyst shrugged. “Something about school. Blah-blah-blah.”

Alex and Sugi laughed, and Opal peered at them, or as far as she could without Pearl launching into a tirade about car safety. “Where are we goin’?” she whispered, confused.

“You remember Peridot?” Amethyst asked.

“No.” Opal shrugged.

“She’s short? Pale skin? Yellow hijab?”

Opal blinked in confusion.

“Her foot came off.”

“Oh, yeah! She was funny!”

“Yeah. We’re goin’ to her place. Something about her being two decades old now?”

“Isn’t that, like, thirteen?” Alex asked.

“Twenty.”

Sugi looked confused. “But I thought she went to school with you. You’re so much older than her!”

“Yeah!” Opal cheered. “You’re old!”

Amethyst laughed a little, ruffling Sugi’s hair. “Heh, I’m only a year older than that little nerd. And Peridot skipped a few grades when she was little. I think she was the youngest kid to enter our college or something? She bonded with Lapis because Lapis skipped a grade too or something, and then she started hanging out with me because I almost ate her foot.”

The girls giggled, but Opal looked a little concerned. “You didn’t actually eat her foot, right?”

“Why do you think she has a robot one?” Amethyst asked.

“ _Amethyst_ ,” Pearl scolded, before looking gently at Opal. “She’s just teasing, Opal, Peridot lost her leg in an accident when she was younger.”

“It’s a fascinating story,” Amethyst groaned, “Maybe she’ll care enough to tell us someday.”

“Amethyst, it must have been a traumatizing incident. If she doesn’t want to talk about it, she doesn’t have to.” Garnet said, turning a corner down the street. “We’re almost there.”

“The gift is in the back, right?” Pearl asked, worried.

“Yes. It’s been there for the entire drive.” Amethyst sighed.

“It’s a book!” Alex reminded them.

“Not just a book,” Pearl told her, “But a whole collection of books she’s wanted for a while!”

“Just like the nerd she is.” Amethyst nodded.

“Wha’s a nerd?” Sugi asked.

“You are!” Amethyst laughed, elbowing Sugilite. Sugi laughed and shoved her back.

“Stop that!” Pearl yelled from the front. “What if we get into an accident? You don’t want to be unsafe!”

“Accident. Like the kind that got Peridot able to vote?” Opal asked, jumbling her thoughts together. Amethyst burst out laughing, while Garnet and Pearl let out a little chuckle. “What?”

Suddenly, Garnet pulled into a driveway, parking the car. “We’re here. Get out.”

Pearl walked to the other side of the car to get the sleeping Sardonyx out of her carseat, while Garnet helped Opal unbuckle her seat, as Alex and Sugi climbed over the front seat to try and push through the door, chatting about how they couldn’t wait to see Rainbow again after _so long_ ! (They had just seen her three days before.) Amethyst waited until they scampered out to slide Opal’s chair ahead so she could squeeze out. She pushed it back, looking up to see the girls racing each other towards the door, squealing and tripping over themselves. Pearl pulled the gift out of the trunk and followed, asking Garnet to make sure Peridot didn’t try to scare the girls with some _Doctor Who_ monster. Amethyst followed them, playing with her frayed shirt as the girls reached the door and rang the doorbell close to eight times, though Peridot didn’t answer until the adults had caught up.

“Honestly, I’m not _deaf_!” she grumbled as the girls muttered a quick greeting before pushing past her to find Rainbow. She looked up at the others. “Hey, guys. You made it.”

“Happy belated Birthday, Peri!” Amethyst pushed past Pearl and Garnet and shoved Peridot, causing her to flinch and jump back. “Oh, sorry.”

Peridot sighed. “No, I’m fine. Come on in, I’ve got chips.”

Amethyst smirked. “Are they…”

“ _Amethyst_ , it was _one time_!” Peridot groaned. After a second, she slumped over and pointed behind her. “Doritos are in the yellow bowl.”

“Whoo!”

“Happy Birthday, Peridot.” Pearl smiled before handing the gift bag to her.

“Wow. Thanks.” Peridot blinked, then looked up. “You can come in, you know.”

Garnet nodded and placed a hand on her shoulder as she passed, making Peridot back up and hiss. Garnet giggled a little as she shut the door, and followed Pearl to Peridot’s living room, where the girls and Rainbow were playing with their toy horses, bags of stuffed animals spilling onto the floor. Rose and Greg waved them over, as Peridot caught them up on the conversation. Apparently they were arguing over the continuity between the _Ghostbusters_ movies, though a look from Greg informed the others that the conversation had been mostly one-sided.

“I’m _telling_ you,” Peridot continued as time went on, the other adults starting to get pretty uncomfortable, “The fact that the Cab Driver knew how to rank the ghosts outside is _proof_ that the Multiverse theory is incorrect!”

“What is she talking about?” Amethyst whispered to Pearl.

“I think one of the actors.” Pearl replied, more watching her girls play war with their toy horses than listening to Peridot’s ramble.

“This time, Apple Bucket, the strawberry fields will be ours!” Sugi yelled, waving her dark horse around.

“But Rock Heart, what about the bunnies? They need the strawberries to sacrifice so they’ll live another year!” Rainbow protested, moving her horse in front of Sugi. “You can’t take that away from them!”

“What do you think, Stepping Stone?” Alex asked, turning to Opal.

Opal blinked. “What were we doing again?”

“BURN! FIRE! KILL! SLAY!” Sugi screamed, her horse attacking Alex’s.

“Is this what kids normally play?” Pearl whispered to Garnet, who was bouncing Sardonyx on her leg.

“Pretty much.” Garnet shrugged.

“When I was their age,” Amethyst rolled her eyes, “It was Mermaid Family Dramas. Featuring murder.”

At that point, the doorbell rang. Peridot froze her spiel on the ethics of ghostbusting to look. “Who the heck is that?”

“Its your door.” Garnet shrugged.

“Maybe it’s my cousin.” Peridot grumbled, getting up. “I forget their name, something Pokémon related? I really don’t care right now.”

The adults looked to each other as Peridot turned the corner and opened the door. There was silence for a second, until they could make out Peridot mutter, “The aliens brought you back.”

“What?” came a muffled reply, followed by a thud. Pearl and Amethyst jumped up and ran to find out what was going on, only to see that Peridot had tackle-hugged Lapis Lazuli to the ground, while Mala stood to the side with a tiny doll and very confused expression.

“Lapis?” Pearl asked as the lifeguard pushed Peridot off and stood to her feet.

“Ah. Fancy seeing you here.” Lapis quipped. “It’s almost as if this is your friend’s house.”

“Who’s that?” Peridot asked, looking to Mala.

“That’s Malachite, my daughter.” Lapis told her, seemingly unfazed by the fact she’d just been knocked to the ground by her former best friend.

Peridot’s face brightened as she looked at the girl. “You have an alien baby, too?”

“You know I wasn’t gonna ask,” Lapis sighed, “And now I definitely won’t.”

“What are you doing here?” Amethyst asked, still confused.

“Hi. I came to talk to your girlfriend.” Lapis said, directing her question at Pearl.

“You… you mean Rose?” Pearl asked, face falling.

“Yeah, she’s here, right?”

Pearl nodded. “Yeah, but, um, we’re not…”

“Ah. Sorry.” Lapis shrugged. “That’s what happens when you get out of touch with people for six years.”

“What did the aliens do to you?” Peridot asked, as they walked in. “What should _we_ do to _them_?”

Lapis looked at her for a second, before saying, “I don’t remember. They must have wiped my mind.”

“Of course.” Peridot mumbled as Lapis and Mala entered the living room.

“Mala!” the girls cheered, looking up.

“Who’s this?” Rainbow asked.

“Mala, come play with us!” Alex called.

Sugi brightened, “Yeah! I need re-in-fort-ments!”

“Reinforcements?” Amethyst asked.

“Tha’s what I said.”

Mala stared blankly at them, before looking down at her doll. “I haven’t got a horse.”

“Tha’s okay, Alex has extra! You can be Grass Hill. Or Water Spots if ya want.” Sugi shrugged.

“Your doll can be in here too.” Opal suggested. “We could have an orphan livin with the horses.”

“River Rock can adopt ‘er!”

Opal stood up and walked Mala towards the group, sitting her down and explaining the specifics of the Herd’s social structure and rites of passage. Lapis patted her on the back, before following them to the corner couch, where Rose, Greg and Garnet looked up in surprise.

“Um, Lapis came to see you.” Pearl introduced numbly, before sitting down slowly, next to Garnet. Both Garnet and Sardonyx seemed to sense her foul mood, as Garnet slowly put her arm around her, and Sardonyx carefully crawled over into her lap, looking up and letting out an indistinct noise, moving her hand up to poke her face. Pearl giggled a little, as Amethyst retook her place on the other side of her.

Rose nodded. “Yeah, I told you to come by anytime to talk about the school-”

“And I came by. Yay.” Lapis cheered in a monotone voice, sitting in a chair beside Peridot.

“Yeah,” Rose hesitated, looking very uneasy, “I told you we’d be at Peridot’s party, but I don’t recall giving you an address.”

Lapis was, of course, unfazed by the indirect accusation. “Well, I found it. And we needed to talk.”

Rose looked to Greg questioningly before turning back to Lapis. “Um, okay. What did you need?”

Lapis sighed and looked down at her lap, where she was playing with her hands. “It… it’s Mala. I didn’t want to send her to public school, cause the teachers seemed… I don’t know, odd. I don’t think they liked me. So I was homeschooling Mala, but I’m working at the pool all day, and while she does her reading and workbooks fine, she won’t even go near the water after what happened last week. I hate the fact that this happened to her and I hate that I can’t shake the feeling this was my fault somehow.”

“Lapis, it’s okay.” Peridot said, still not completely sure what was going on. “Whatever happened last week was an accident. Like when the aliens found you at school, or when Amethyst brought in that dog dung for Earth Science instead of the dirt she needed for the Worm Project.”

“Yeah, that wasn’t an accident.” Amethyst informed her.

Lapis sighed. “I just… I’d like Mal to go somewhere where she’ll be safe. She’s only in Kindergarten but she’s still had issues with a bunch of schools, especially since I’ve been moving a lot. She doesn’t get along with the kids, and yeah, the teachers and parents don’t like me, and when Pearl mentioned that your school was in the neighborhood, I remembered you from College and I figured you’d be more… more open.”

Rose nodded. “Yes, of course, our teachers are very open. We try to make sure the students are accepted and-”

“Cut the talk, I’ve heard it all before.” Lapis held up a hand. “All the schools, ‘We’re more accepting here, we don’t care that there’s only one parent present in her life, we don’t care that Mala doesn’t want to socialize.’ But the second we’re in the class, it’s stares and prods about _is she adopted_ or _who’s the father_ and the little hellians they call kids don’t care for this new girl who sits in the back and rips the heads off of flowers and the parents tell them, _don’t associate with her, her parents abandoned her_ or _don’t talk to that one, she doesn’t have a Dad because her Mom doesn’t know which one it is_. Yeah, sure, sometimes there’s that kid who wants to befriend the poor kid who hates people, is nice enough to find out that no, her Mom likes girls, and no, she isn’t just ‘shy’, but then we’re back on the road again, and they stop calling after a week. So tell me, what makes your school any different?”

They paused for a second, before Pearl looked up, her voice barely breaking a whisper. “Lapis, I work there. I can promise you, there’s none of that.”

Lapis raised an eyebrow. “Yeah? How can you tell?”

“The kids.” Pearl said. “You probably remember Crystal Academy as the elite private school for rich kids, but since Rose took over, it’s different. She let in a bunch of kids who showed potential but couldn’t afford to pay for a rich boarding school, or used rebellion and troublemaking as an outlet because school was too boring for them. Half the kids in my class come from nontraditional families. Alli and their brother were orphaned and adopted by their grandparents, and their sister is handling the finances, Uzo’s mom died when she was little, Nick’s dads got divorced the year before he came, Aluna lives with a single parent, Palmira got kicked out of her house and is living with her Aunt. Heck, Lizzy lives by herself most of the time. It’s like that all over the school, it’s not just a rich kid’s playground anymore, everyone’s learning there together. They’re so accepting, Lapis, they won’t bat an eye at… at _anyone’s_ home life. They won’t care that Mala’s different, either. Everyone’s so nice there, so patient, Mala won’t have any problems.”

Lapis considered for a second, then said, “Do your kids go there?”

Pearl was startled by the question, but calmed herself in a second. “No. We homeschool.”

“Why?”

“We feel they work better without the added pressure of social expectations.” Garnet said. “Also, when they were in Empire City with Pearl’s class Sugi announced her intention to ‘fight everyone in the school’, which we decided would be a good idea to postpone for a while.”

Lapis nodded. “A lot like Mala, but unfortunately I’m working too much, she can’t stay at home, and she won’t go to the pool.” she paused, then said, “I’ll think about things.”

“Hey, Lapis?” Peridot asked. “Quick question, when did you get back from the spaceship?”

Lapis sighed. “Maybe a month or so?”

Peridot nodded. “Then how were the alien schools?”

“Absolutely terrible.” Lapis said. “Like I said, it was a black, bottomless pit with an illusion of perfection held as the standard, and students who cannot act well enough to reach it are cast aside for students who can suck up the most. Deviations from the norm are punished by authority figures until the student is taught to act as a machine for their elders to use as they please, taught that thinking is boring and learning is evil, because they loved to read but in the fifth grade they told them those adventure books are not good enough, this boring book about white people having an affair during the Civil War is _real_ literature. Love of learning is replaced with ‘we learn what’s on the test’, and children learn to memorize and work off as little outside resources as possible, so they’ll never be prepared for the outside world and have to rely on their elders again. If they have better ideas for school, put it in the suggestion bin, where little Jack put his week-old lunch and the math teacher put the note the girls were passing during algebra, and God forbid you have ideas to change our society. You will grow up and have one marriage partner and spawn your children to be more robots that obey every command, and in fact, your marriage partner should be the first one you ever think about marrying, because if you end the idea of a relationship with someone, it's your fault and you should be ashamed, especially if something happened there that you’ll regret until you drown those memories in the alcohol you’re finally allowed to drink, and then _shame_ , you have to live with every decision you ever made, you should feel bad if you ever think for yourself, you should feel bad if you ever try to break the status quo, you should be like your peers, but you can’t even do anything like that, because by now you’re taking care of a kid, and that kid is the light of your life but you can’t lie to yourself and say that she doesn’t make things harder, and bringing her into a job interview and saying you’re single is an immediate kill, because if you say she’s adopted they’ll think you have a savior complex and are guilt-tripping them into a job, and no one likes a guilt-tripper, but you know, if you tell them she’s yours, then _oh, she had a kid so young, how dare someone barely out of her teens and only recently able to do what she wants not make the best decisions_ , and if you tell them it’s none of their business, then you’re rude, and if you tell them you’re babysitting, or had a partner who died tragically, you’re a liar. When you finally find someone who doesn’t care and will hire you, your cousin is sick and needs you to move to help her, and then people you don’t want to find you come snooping around, and then your house is foreclosed, and you can’t take it anymore, but your life isn’t yours now, it’s society’s, and your only hope is you can raise your kid better and save them the same fate. The people passing you on the street, they look at the girl with a kid and think, _she’s irresponsible_ , not, _she needs help_ or _that looks hard_ or _good for her for sticking it out_ ,” she then looked Pearl dead in the eyes. “Or maybe, they should be thinking, _she gave her heart to the wrong person and got it returned to her beaten, bloodied and broken, and people will only tell her she could have had it worse, and she’ll never the be the same again. And she just can’t get out of her mind the thought that this is somehow all her fault, just like everything else in her stupid life._ ” She paused, looking around at the silent crowd, before adding, “Music class was nice, though.”

The silence was broken only by the girls in the back, muttering about how Stepping Stone had been captured by the Shadow Herd. Nobody was quite sure how to respond, instead awkwardly looking to each other. Pearl was shaking a little, though only Amethyst noticed, who put a hand over Pearl’s gently. Sardonyx also quietly leaned into her. Eventually, Greg let out a little laugh and said, “You know, everyone in this room has a Gem name except for me. Isn’t that funny?”

Lapis blinked. “Who are you again?”

“A rose is a flower.” Amethyst pointed out.

“There is a thing called a Rose Quartz.” Garnet reminded her.

“Yeah,” Pearl said, her face blank, her eyes staring ahead. “We’re all gems, except for Greg. Guess Greg’ll have to leave.”

“Leave?”

“Yep. This is the Crystal Gems’ club now.” Pearl shrugged, still staring ahead, “On Wednesdays we wear pink. Get out.”

“Pearl,” Rose said, her voice containing a slight warning, which could be easily missed by someone who wasn’t paying attention or didn’t know the speaker very well, “Greg’s not going anywhere.”

Pearl shocked everyone by letting out a small laugh and saying, “Yeah, I figured that out a long time ago.”

Another long pause continued, until Garnet straightened up and said, in an almost sheepish tone, “I’ve never actually seen _Ghostbusters_.”

Peridot jumped to her feet, letting out an unholy screech. “ _You’ve never WHAT_?”

She grabbed Garnet’s hand, dragging her along with her towards her basement. “Come on! I have all the movies and the television shows, we’re going to marathon.”

Garnet grabbed Pearl’s hand, as Pearl scooped Sardonyx up into her arms. “Come on, it’s not _X-Files_.”

Amethyst followed, asking Peridot if she still had the popcorn machine. Lapis stood up and joined them, mumbling something like, “You guys are way more fun than the therapists were.”

“We’ll watch the kids!” Rose called after them, probably unheard through Peridot’s rambling- now she was saying something about CGI budget and set design.

Rose looked to Greg, as her calm demeanor dropping into a slump, her eyes sad. “She didn’t mean that.”

Greg sighed. “Yeah, she did.” he looked up. “She’ll be fine, Rose.”

They looked to the kids, who were now engaged in an epic battle, while Malachite stayed off to the side, her doll trying to locate the Magic Tree that would save them all.

“I know she will.” Rose finally said. “But she’s taking the long time in getting there.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so when I started this I didn't realize these chapters would be more slice-of-life than plot-driven, especially since my plan was to pretty much the girls' entire childhood and a chapter or two with Steven and Connie's children. Meaning that this is going to go on for a while- which is great, because this is insanely fun to write! 
> 
> But since this could easily go past 50+ chapters, and really long fics tend to intimidate people (or maybe that's just me, idk), I think I'm going to do two things: one, chapters will now be posted on Wednesdays and Fridays, unless something special is happening or I go somewhere where I don't have internet for that amount of time. (Also, since I'm posting this chapter now, this will count as tomorrow's chapter.) Two, I think I'll have a certain period of time laid out for this specific fic, and when I've finished that arc, I'll mark this as completed and make a sequel picking up where we left off. These could change later, but this is probably what I'll do.
> 
> Thanks again for your nice comments and everything! They truly make my day! :)


	7. A Peek

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried a slightly different style with this. It'll be back to the original style Friday. Speaking of which, I decided to update Tuesdays and Fridays instead of Wednesdays and Fridays. It gives me more time to work on the chapters. :)

Chapter Seven

 

A camera flickers on. It’s old, the screen rewinding to the last scene recorded. A girl appears on the screen- Pearl.

“Careful, is it at eye level?” Pearl asks.

Amethyst sighs, “Yes, Pearl, we can see the kid. Let her start.”

Pearl nods, then looks up. “Is the camera _on_?”

“Go!” Amethyst groans, though she does check to make sure the light was blinking correctly.

Pearl nods again and walks over to the table. “Okay, today Sardonyx is going to take her first steps! She’s been trying to stand on her own for a little while now, and we’re going to try to teach her to walk. Are you ready?”

Sardonyx looks up at Pearl, before giggling and smiling.

“When she learns how to walk,” says a voice off-camera, “Can _she_ take out the trash?”

“Not for a while, Sugilite.” Garnet says, coming up behind Pearl and sitting on the couch. “She won’t be able to hold the bag.”

“Neither can Opal, bu’ she takes her turn!”

“Shh!” comes Alex’s voice, as Sardonyx carefully pulls herself up, grabbing onto the edge of the table. Pearl then slowly grabs one hand, and then the other. They walk a little away from the table, like they’d practiced, before Pearl carefully lets go of Sardonyx’s hands.

Sardonyx looks confused for a second, as Amethyst zooms in on her with the camera. She is rocking a little as she steadies herself, before getting a determined look on her face and slowly, carefully, stepping forward.

Pearl, who is still standing behind Sardonyx, arms out to steady her in case she falls, lets out a little squeal of delight. The girls behind Amethyst applaud, which pleases Sardonyx, who takes another step, to similar results. She turns to Garnet, her eyes lighting up as the adult shoots her a thumbs up. She turns and tried to walk towards her, only to topple. Pearl reaches out to steady her, but Sardonyx has already given up and sits on the ground, very pleased that she made it this far.

“You did so good, Sardonyx!” Pearl says, after she realizes Sardonyx isn’t going to get up anytime soon.

“Yeah, you’ll be walking soon!” Amethyst cheers.

“You did very good,” Garnet says, walking up and sitting by the baby.

Sardonyx looks up, beaming, and opens her mouth. “Gar-net!”

There is silence, before everyone explodes. “She spoke!” Pearl yells, her eyes lighting up. “She said something!”

“You _can_ talk!” Sugi says, bursting into frame with her sisters.

Opal picks up the baby and puts her on her lap, as Alex says, “You said a word, Sard!”

Sardonyx looks so happy- she’s doing so many new things today! “Garnet!” she repeats. “Garnet! Garnet! Garnet! Garnet! Garnet!”

“Are you okay, Garnet?” Opal asks, looking up to see their guardian very quiet.

“She’s crying.” Amethyst tells them.

“Garnet!” Sardonyx repeats, looking up.

Garnet smiles, holding out a hand for the baby to grab. “Yep. It’s me.”

“You’re doing so good!” Pearl tells the youngest. “Today’s a big day for you!”

Sardonyx nods, holding out her other hand for the other woman. “Prrl!”

Pearl freezes, and then she’s crying, too, grabbing Sardonyx’s tiny hand and saying, “Yes, yes! I’m Pearl!”

“Prrl! Garnet! Prrl! Garnet!”

“Great,” Amethyst sighs from behind the camera, “She talks. Now we’ll never get her to shut up.”

Sardonyx turns to Amethyst, confused as to why she’s not as happy. Then she realizes, and says, “Ame!”

There's a pause before Amethyst says, "Oh gosh. Oh my gosh."

“Ame! Prrl! Garnet!” Sardonyx repeats.

“Try me next!” Alex says, leaning down to meet her eye level.

Sardonyx pauses, before saying, “Garnet!”

Alex laughs. “Close ‘nough!”

“Oh no!” Amethyst says, faking a concerned tone.

“What?” Pearl asks.

“I forgot to turn the camera on!”

Pearl looks upset until Amethyst starts to laugh, and then she starts yelling about how it wasn’t funny. “It was a little funny.” Garnet shrugs, as she picks up Sardonyx. “Want to try walking again?”

Sardonyx repeats, “Garnet,” before closing her eyes and pretending to sleep, still repeating names under her breath and letting out tiny giggles.

 

The footage ends, and the screen goes back. A reflection is against it, of four girls looking down.

“Oh my gosh,” says one, “We never _did_ get ya to shut up.”

“You were so cute as a baby!” says the one with pigtails, looking up at the youngest, who is leaning against the back of the couch.

“Yes, I definitely was!” the youngest grins, smiling and shrugging. “And I can see where I got my love for performance!”

“Oh, we shouldn’t have encouraged her.” the oldest groans, as the others laugh.

“What else is on here?” the first girl says, rewinding. They get to the beginning, and hear a voice, as the girls, once again very young, start dancing with their guardians.

“Pearl’s kids’ first day with us!” the camera turns to the little baby Sardonyx again, looking up. “Say hello, Sardonyx!”

The youngest lets out a little laugh. “My first close-up!”

The pigtailed girl laughs a little. The oldest pauses the video, then turns to the others and shrugs. “Come on, I’ll put this with the rest of my stuff. That video reminded me, it’s Sugi’s turn to empty the trash.”

Sugi groans as the girls laugh, and the Camera is turned off. The oldest goes to her room, opens her closet, and carefully puts the camera in a box, which includes very few belongings- most of her stuff is out in the open. Among them is a faded t-shirt, a pretty bracelet, a videotape, some doll clothes, a book or two, and a stuffed animal. Alex puts the camera among them, then calls out, “And Sugi! If you don’t refill the trash bag you’re grounded!”

“You can’t do that!”

“Yeah I can! I’m in charge til Pearl gets back!”

“Only conditionally!”

They laugh, and the camera is forgotten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, original style and time frame will be back Friday. That's when the girls have to get a babysitter and it will be great. :)


	8. Babysitting

Chapter Eight

 

“Garnet! Prrl! Ame! Garnet! Prrl! Ame!”

“She won’t stop  _ talking _ !” Sugi whined, putting her head in her hands. “Pearl, make her stop!”

“Yes, good job, Sardonyx!” Pearl cheered, picking the baby up from her highchair. “Can you say your name?”

Sardonyx considered, then said, “Prrl!”

Pearl’s delighted face was all Sardonyx needed to keep repeating the word. Sugi started banging her head on the table. 

“Pearl, are we gonna do something fun today?” Opal asked, deliberately looking away from her uneaten oatmeal. “Let’s go to to the movies!”

“What movie?” Pearl asked. 

Opal thought for a second. “I dunno.” She hadn’t thought she would get this far. 

Pearl’s phone rang, and she put a chattering Sardonyx back in her chair before picking it up. As she talked, she kept an eye on Alexandrite, who looked like she might want to fling her oatmeal at Sugi. “Uh huh. What? But- Ugh, I understand. But I can’t… I’ll see what I can do.”

The girls looked up, noticing Pearl’s frustration- except Sardonyx, who kept muttering words to herself. Pearl put the phone down and sighed, turning towards the girls. “We might not be able to go anywhere today. I just got a call from the school and-”

“You have to go to school on  _ Saturday _ ?” Alex looked horrified. 

“Maybe.” Pearl sighed. “But Amethyst is doing her project with Vidalia and Garnet is helping Rainbow’s acting class today… Ugh, I might have to call someone.”

“ _Ghostbusters_!” Opal yelled, throwing her arms in the air. 

Pearl sighed, before her face lit up. “Wait, you know who’s in town this week?”

“A LION!” Sugi yelled. 

Pearl shook her head, dialing a number on her phone. “No, not a lion.”

“SEVEN LIONS!”

“PINK LIONS!” Alex added. 

“GHOSTBUSTERS!”

Pearl held up her phone and started talking. Sardonyx, being as helpful as she always was, picked that time to yell, “LION!”

 

Pearl opened the door, looking relieved when Bismuth waved to her. “Hey, Pearl!”

“Thank goodness you’re here!” Pearl sighed, letting her in. “I have to stop by the school, there was an incident, and Garnet and Amethyst are busy and I didn’t want to ask them to come all the way back here and…”

“Whoa! Slow down, Pearl. It’s no biggie. I had nothing to do today anyway.” Bismuth laughed. “How’re the kids doing?”

“Oh, there’s doing great!” Pearl grinned. “Alex seems really interested in the Golden Age of Piracy, which might be an issue but it’s nice that she likes school so much, and Sugi really likes Biology and did I tell you Sardonyx has started talking? Her vocabulary’s pretty small but she’s taken to a few more words this morning, and Opal has been getting a lot better at- Opal!”

Opal had walked in, curious at the sound of the door opening, and was now staring at the two in the doorway. 

“Opal, do you want to show Bismuth how far you can count now?”

Opal blinked, then immediately started crying. 

“Opal!” Pearl ran forward, bending down and putting her hands on the girl’s shoulders. “What’s wrong, honey?”

“ _ Do we have to leave again? _ ” Opal wailed, looking distraught. “ _ I don’t wanna go this time! Please don’t leave me! _ ”

“Oh, oh, Opal,” Pearl gave her a hug, pulling her tight. “No, no, you’re not leaving. I’m not leaving you, I just have to go for a few hours, and then I’ll be back, okay?”

“You’re gonna leave and then we’ll be all alone again!”

“No, Bismuth is just going to watch you for a bit, and then I’m coming back. Okay?”

Opal sniffled. “You’re coming back?”

Pearl slowly pulled out of the hug and nodded, smiling. “Yes, I’m coming back.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

Opal wiped her eyes, as Sugi and Alex ran in. “We heard Opal cryin’!” Sugi announced. “Wha’s wrong?”

They saw Bismuth, and then turned to Pearl. Pearl immediately spoke, before they could get the impression that Opal got. “Bismuth is going to babysit you for a few hours while I run out to the school. I’ll be right back, okay?”

They paused, before Alex yelled, “We don’t need babysat! We’re all grown up!”

Pearl sighed. “Alex, you tried to feed Sardonyx motor oil.”

“It was in Amethyst’s room, I thought it was ice cream!”

“That was the lesson, Alex,” Pearl said. “Don’t assume anything in Amethyst’s room is safe.”

Bismuth laughed. “Amethyst, she’s your roommate, right?”

“Yeah,” Pearl replied. “If you want to be able to breathe normally don’t open her bedroom door. I haven’t even touched it in the last couple weeks.”

“Wow, must be bad.” Bismuth laughed. 

Pearl looked down at her phone as a text came in, then looked back up. “My ride’s here. Will you be alright?”

The girls nodded, and Bismuth said, “Don’t worry Pearl, you know I’ve done this before! I know how to handle kids.”

“Okay,” Pearl hesitantly said, and grabbed her bag from the floor as she walked out the door. “Lunch is in the fridge, and Dinner if Garnet and I run late, Sardonyx is asleep in her room, don’t let the girls in the yard unless you can see them, and have lots of fun!” She waved goodbye and closed the door. 

The girls paused, then looked back to Bismuth.

“Wanna watch a movie?” Opal asked. 

Bismuth thought. Pearl hadn’t said that they  _ couldn’t _ , and she hadn’t given her a comprehensive and packed schedule like she assumed she would. She  _ must _ have been in a rush. “Yeah, I don’t see why not.”

“Let’s watch Avatar!” Opal yelled, her eyes brightening up.

“Tha’s not a  _ movie _ , Opal.” Sugi groaned. “Tha’s a  _ show _ . It’s different.”

“But Garnet said it was a movie.” Opal looked confused.

“No,” Alex sighed, crossing her arms, “She said there  _ was _ a movie, and it  _ sucked _ .”

Opal gasped. “Alex! You can’t say that! It’s a  _ bad word _ !”

“I know an even worse word.” Sugilite announced, before leaning close to Opal and whispering, “ _ Guts _ .”

Opal and Sugi burst into giggles, as Alex immediately tried to shush them. “Sardonyx is sleeping!”

“Good, now she can’t talk all the time.” Sugi nodded. “She just goes  _ on  _ and  _ on _ !”

“Yeah, and she only knows five words!” Opal added, turning to Bismuth. “She knows Garnet, Ame, Pearl, Lion and Pretty.”

“Amethyst wants ta teach her to say a bad word just to make Pearl mad.” Sugi informed their babysitter. “But she’s not doin’ so good. Sardonyx jus’ gets bored and starts saying her name a lot.”

“Interesting.” Bismuth nodded.

Opal started to get bored. “I’ll go get the DVD! Amethyst helped me remember how to put it in!”

“Really?” Bismuth asked. 

Opal nodded. “She said, ‘Bright blue button opens up the top, the DVD goes in picture side up!’”

“Do you remember how to close it?” Sugi crossed her arms. 

Opal shrugged. “I’ll remember when I see the buttons probably.”

As she ran off, Alex looked up at Bismuth. “So how’s your life?”

Bismuth laughed a little, then replied, “Pretty good. My parents don’t like that I travel so much but you know? I’m an adult now, I can travel if I want.”

“Wha’s your work?” Sugi asked. 

“I’m an architect.” Bismuth said. The girls blinked up at her, so she added, “I design and build things.”

“Cool!” Alex said. 

“Oh.” Sugi looked disappointed. “I thought you were a time-traveller.” 

Bismuth laughed. “Nope, not lucky enough to get that promotion yet. Why don’t we go find your sister?”

“We don’t need ta find her,” Sugi shrugged, “She’s right over there.”

Alex peered into the living room. “Is she tryin’ to put cookies into the DVD player?”

“We have  _ cookies _ ?” Sugi asked, pushing past Alex and running in. “Opal! No! Don’t put those there!”

Alex grabbed Bismuth’s hand and led her to the Living Room, talking. “We jus’ started Book Three. If we finish this we might be able to start  _ Korra _ in Summer.”

“Korra?” Bismuth asked. 

“The second show. Amethyst and Garnet really like it, but Pearl hasn’t seen it yet.” she explained. “We just finished an episode with Garnet yesterday. She liked it cause it reminded her of an old movie about dancing.”

“Footloose?” 

Alex nodded. 

“That makes sense.” Bismuth said. “She was in the musical when she was a kid, and she  _ adores  _ it. It’s pretty much her favorite thing.”

“Oh. Who was she?”

“She was Ren.”

“Oh. Who’s that?”

Bismuth sighed. “You wanna watch  _ that  _ movie?” 

Alex shook her head. “Avatar!”

Opal looked up as they approached, and scared Bismuth when she started crying again. “Where’s Pearl?” she asked. 

“Oh, it’s okay! Pearl will be right back!” Bismuth told her, sitting by her. “I’m babysittin’ you for a bit.”

This served to make Opal more upset. “Did I forget again?”

“It’s okay!” Bismuth assured her. “It really is, hon. Pearl promised she’d come back soon, okay?”

“What if she doesn’t keep her promise cause I forgot?” Opal asked. 

“Well, we remember!” Sugi reminded her. “We’ll hold her to it!”

“Yeah!” Alex nodded. 

Opal smiled. “You guys are so nice.” she then turned to Bismuth, as Alex put the DVD in. “Have you seen the show before?”

“Uh, no. I don’t watch TV that much.” Bismuth shrugged. 

“Oh. Tha’s okay, we’ll catch you up.” Opal smiled. “See, there was a revolution, and then a revolution against the revolution. And then there was a flying bison.”

“That doesn’t explain  _ anything _ , Opal.” Sugi groaned. “Katara will explain in the opening.”

“Okay.” Opal nodded. “Do you know how to make popcorn?”

“I can try!” Alex volunteered. “One time I helped Amethyst make coffee! Pearl wouldn’t let me drink any, though.”

“No, I’ll get it.” Bismuth said, noticing that the ads on the DVD were probably going to play for a while. “You kids wait here a second.”

 

When she got back, she was unsurprised to find that Sugilite and Alexandrite were sitting in front of the TV, watching the menu, while Opal was gone. “Where’d your sister go?” she asked. 

“She went to see if Sardonyx is still sleeping.” Alex told her. “She’ll be back probably.”

“So, how did you meet Pearl?” Sugi asked. “Were you guys dating?” 

“Oh, no.” Bismuth chuckled. “I actually babysat  _ her _ when she was a little older than you.”

“You mean when Pearl was a baby?” Opal asked, trotting in, and carrying a bag of chips. 

“Where did you get those?” Sugi asked. 

“I hid them in Sardonyx’s room but I won’t tell you where because you’ll steal em.” Opal stuck her tongue out and sat by Alex. “And I don’t like popcorn.” She then turned back to Bismuth. “But did you watch Pearl as a baby?”

“No, she, Garnet and Rose were about eleven or twelve.” Bismuth told them, smiling. “I was fifteen, and Sapphire knew me from my school. She called me in to babysit when she and Ruby had to leave in an emergency, and Garnet was havin’ Pearl and Rose over for a sleepover that night. I remember walking up, and I could hear Pearl complaining inside about how they were old enough to watch themselves. They warmed up to me pretty quick, though. Garnet taught us the dance moves she’d been learning and Rose showed us pictures of her garden. Pearl was pretty quiet, at first. She’d just moved in and was really shy, but when her parents were at work she asked me to come over. So I ended up watching her whenever she needed someone.”

Opal looked up at her, thinking, before saying, “So were  _ you  _ ever a baby?”

 

“Thank you  _ so  _ much!” Pearl repeated, watching the girls run around the Living Room, showing Garnet the paper dolls they’d made. 

“It really was no problem.” Bismuth said. “They were a lot easier to take care of than you guys were.”

“Excuse me,” Pearl objected, faking offense, “But we were  _ very _ well-behaved children.”

“Pearl, you three once tried to sneak out the Living Room Window with Rose’s mom’s money in order to see a movie just to prove you could.”

“ _ And  _ we almost made it!” Pearl argued. “If you hadn’t  _ cheated  _ at hide-and-seek…”

“I heard you try to sneak out the back! You weren’t very quiet about it!” Bismuth laughed. “I  _ totally _ could have called the cops on you!”

“But you wouldn’t have! You just snuck out back and sprayed us with the garden hose!”

“Well, it made you stop, didn’t it?”

Pearl and Bismuth laughed, remembering the incident. Pearl stopped laughing first, a memory of angry yelling at ruining her dress interrupting the happy ones of her and the other girls grabbing another hose and starting a water war. She stared off at her girls, who were proudly explaining what they’d watched on the TV that day. She then turned back to Bismuth, who was looking at her curiously. “Are you okay?”

“Y-you didn’t tell the girls about  _ that  _ little incident, did you?” Pearl asked. 

“Oh no,” Bismuth smirked, “Of course I didn’t tell them about your  _ extensive  _ criminal history.”

“Extensive? What do you-” Pearl broke off when Bismuth started laughing again. She faked offense again, placing a hand over her heart. “I’ll have you know that I have never once been arrested for any criminal charges!”

“Wha’s a  _ criminal charges _ ?” Pearl looked down to see Alex looking up at her, curiosity in her voice. 

Pearl blushed and stuttered, which only caused Bismuth to laugh harder. 

“It means she broke the law, which she didn’t.” Garnet said, coming up behind her. “She was too busy keeping me and Rose from being arrested for criminal charges.”

“ _ Garnet! _ ”

Alex looked amazed. “You and Ms. Rose went to  _ jail _ ?”

Garnet leaned down to Alex’s eye level and said, “Breaking the law is wrong, Alex.”

“Okay,” Alex nodded. 

Garnet then added, “But don’t be surprised if we get arrested for vandalizing Pearl’s Foster Mom’s building ten years ago.”

“That was  _ you _ ?” Pearl sputtered, before turning to Bismuth, “That was  _ them _ ?”

“Eh, me too.” Bismuth shrugged. “She was a  _ horrible  _ person, Pearl.”

They laughed, while Pearl looked angry and sent Alex to watch her sisters. She turned back to Bismuth, before dropping her upset look and bursting into laughter. “So,” she managed to say inbetween giggles, “It’s not okay to sneak off to see a movie, but it  _ is  _ okay to vandalize a building.”

“First off, you stole money to go see the movie.” Bismuth explained. “And second, that building would have been  _ fine _ , I honestly don’t see why they closed the dance studio for a week.”

“ _ You spray painted the Communist Manifesto onto the side of the wall _ !”

“ _ I _ thought it fit.” Garnet shrugged, also shaking with laughter. 

“You’re not mad?” Bismuth asked. “I mean, again, you’re a stickler for the rules.”

“My Foster Mom  _ was _ an awful person.” Pearl giggled. “Plus, while she was overseeing the vandalism removal, Rose and I snuck off to watch  _ Harry Potter _ in the theater.”

“Uh, you better not have used stolen money for that!” Bismuth pretend-chided, grinning. 

“Oh no, Rose and I payed for it ourselves. But the best part is, neither of us were allowed to watch  _ Harry Potter _ as kids.”

Garnet looked up. “Hold on, is  _ that  _ why you two always wanted to marathon at my place?”

“Maybe.” Pearl shrugged, still smiling. 

“Is  _ that  _ the most illegal thing you’ve ever done? See a PG movie about Magic School?” Bismuth asked. 

“Hey, it is a great accomplishment to have followed the law this far in my life.” Pearl smirked, before adding, “And I have a  _ lot  _ of dirt on you two now, just so you know.”

“Yep, we’re just a group of criminals.” Garnet said, leaning on Bismuth. “But if you must know, the vandalism was Rose’s idea.”

“Yeah,” Pearl conceded, “I figured. But if the vandalism case opens up again, I’m not lying for you two.”

“Well, at least we’re not criminals  _ now _ ,” Bismuth smirked. “We could totally have grown up into little Robin Hoods, but with spray cans instead of bows and arrows.”

“Yeah, it’s a good thing we had you.” Garnet smiled, putting a hand on a blushing Pearl’s shoulder. “You were always there to keep us on the right track.”

“I, um, I just-” Pearl stuttered. “Well, I guess we just have to hope Amethyst doesn’t end up in jail.”

“Oh, yeah, that could be a problem.” Garnet nodded. “She loves getting into trouble.”

“Oh, yeah, keep an eye on Opal.” Bismuth muttered, still smiling. “She looks cute and innocent but she can be  _ vindictive _ . Don’t ask her about… what was that cat’s name?”

“Sagewhisker?” Pearl looked across the room. “Yes, Amethyst was reading that book to her. Apparently not the best idea.”

“Yeah, and also she’s got a hidden stash of chips.” Bismuth informed them. 

“I knew it!” Pearl muttered. 

Garnet shrugged. “Eh, Amethyst already found it. She’s been stealing from it for a while now.”

“And when these kids become teenagers,” Bismuth said, gesturing the girls, arguing over the Shadow Herd’s placement nearby the Creek Herd, “I promise I will not enable their stupid teenage plans... unless they have a valid reason.”

“No, you’re not going to enable them  _ at all _ .” Pearl said, crossing her arms. 

“You’re no fun.” Garnet said. 

“I am  _ tons  _ of fun.” Pearl grinned.

Bismuth looked up at the clock in the hall, and said, “I’d better go. I’ll see you two later, okay?”

“Goodbye!” Pearl called, as Bismuth shut the door. 

“BYE!” Opal absent-mindedly called from the Living Room, where she and her sisters were now laying complex charts for their Horseland on the floor. 

Pearl looked over to Garnet. “Were you three also responsible for Rose’s Mom’s car disappearing?”

“Oh, no, we have no idea how that happened.” Garnet assured her. 

“Oh, good, cause that was me.” Pearl shrugged, walking up to see the charts. 

Garnet stared at her in a stunned silence before running after her. 

 

“Oh, I almost forgot!” Pearl said, as she rolled up the now-forgotten charts, leaving them somewhere for the girls to find them in the morning, “How was Rainbow’s class today?”

“Yeah!” Amethyst called from the sink, where she was cleaning the dishes. “And what play are they doin’? She won’t tell us.”

“The kids were fine.” Garnet said, having just left the girls’ room. “A lot more cooperative than you’d expect 7-12 year olds to be. And they’re doing  _ The Little Mermaid. _ ”

“Oh, that’s nice.” Pearl nodded, carefully stepping over paper doll clothes, carefully colored in. “What’s Rainbow? Is she some kind of fish?”

Garnet paused, before saying, “She’s a mermaid.”

“Whoa, sweet. That’s a lot better than her last couple plays.” Amethyst cheered. “Which mermaid? So we can spot her. Is she, like, the pink one? The shiny one?”

Garnet considered for a moment, before announcing, “The little one.”

“Okay,” Amethyst nodded, “So she’s the little mer-”

The silence that followed was only broken by Sardonyx, from her crib, screaming out, “PRETTY!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end of this chapter basically happened because I was like "What's their equivalent of the rebellion? ... idk but I want them to be dumb teenagers." Let me know what you thought of Bismuth and everything! :)


	9. The World Above

Chapter Nine

 

Pearl had absolutely no idea where they were going. 

“Why did Rainbow have to change acting studios?” she asked, following Garnet, who was following instructions from a text she’d gotten from Rose. 

“She said it had something to do with rats and an embezzlement fraud, but I’m not sure whether that was the show they were doing or what actually happened.” Garnet replied. 

“Nemo!” Sardonyx yelled from the babybjörn on Pearl’s back, pointing to the clownfish hanging from the wall. 

“Yes, that is a clownfish.” Pearl said, smiling. Sardonyx’s vocabulary had increased to a select amount of fictional characters, though she still hadn’t learned her sisters’ names nor her own. 

“Nemo!” she yelled again, pointing to yet another clownfish. 

“Are we there yet?” Sugi asked Amethyst, looking very bored. 

“I think we’re almost there. They got a pretty dang big building.” Amethyst said. 

“Are you  _ sure  _ Rainbow’s playing Ariel?” Pearl asked Garnet for the hundredth time. 

“Unless there’s another green-finned, red-haired mermaid that turns into a human and learns to dance.” Garnet shrugged. 

“It’s just that she’s rarely ever had a  _ line _ in a play before, and now she’s the main character?” Pearl said. “I mean, I trust that she’ll do well, of course, but it seems so  _ sudden _ .”

“So was Rainbow secretly Ariel the whole time?” Opal asked, reaching up to grab Pearl’s hand. 

“No,” Pearl explained carefully, “The real Ariel is in DisneyWorld, remember? Rainbow’s pretending to be her for the play.”

“Oh,” Opal nodded, “So she’s a liar.”

As Pearl sighed and explained again, Alex looked up at Amethyst. “Will this be boring?”

“Probably not for you. You guys have watched that old movie about a million times.” 

“We really love it!” Sugi protested. “But I think Pearl likes  _ Mulan _ more.”

“Yeah, she has a soft spot for that movie.” Amethyst sighed. “Do you know what Garnet’s favorite Disney Movie is?”

“ _ Footloose _ ?” Alex guessed. 

Amethyst sighed. “No, that’s not Disney.”

The girls thought, before Sugi asked, “Can we have a hint?”

“Sure.” Amethyst laughed. “You haven’t seen it yet.”

“ _ Footloose _ ?” Sugi asked. 

“No, I just told you, it’s not Disney.” Amethyst sighed. 

“Well, I don’t think she likes anything other than  _ Footloose. _ ” Sugi shrugged. 

“Amethyst, are you telling them about  _ Atlantis  _ again?” Pearl called back, as Garnet muttered something about being almost there. “I told you, we can watch it when we find it.”

“Is _that_ it?” Alex asked. 

“You’re no fun, P!” Amethyst yelled up at her roommate, which caused the girls to laugh. 

“We made it.” Garnet announced as they turned a bend and saw a set of double doors, propped open and decorated with blue fabric and painted fish. 

“Whoo!” Amethyst cheered. “ _ And  _ we’re not late!”

Pearl looked inside the room as they walked towards it, confused. The walls were painted a deep sea blue, with light from the ceiling reflecting against it, the shadows giving the impression that it was underwater. The stage held a large ship, which could be broken apart for later in the show. The chairs surrounding the stage were covered in blue fabric, waving across the rows. Decorations shaped like starfish and sea urchins littered the walls, all rising towards the large ceiling, from which a chandelier turned slowly. Pearl blinked, before saying, “They… they sure went overboard.”

“ _ Overboard _ ! Ha!” Amethyst laughed, and Pearl groaned once she realized her accidental pun. “That’s a good one!”

Garnet handed an older student at the door their tickets and led them towards a row, where Rose and Greg were waving for them. Alexandrite cheered and sat next to Rose, asking her how Rainbow was doing. 

“She’s really excited!” Rose told her, watching as the others sat down. “She pretty much has the whole play memorized by now.”

“Yeah,” Greg added, “She dyed her hair red just for the show.”

“She  _ did _ ?” Pearl looked surprised. 

“How does it look?” Amethyst asked. 

“We don’t know.” Rose admitted. “Apparently she had a friend do it when we dropped her off this morning. We only found out because she sent us a text asking permission  _ after  _ she’d already finished.”

“This room is very… decorated.” Pearl said, after passing the girls programs in order to keep them distracted. It worked; Opal immediately started squealing about the pretty pictures and Sugi and Alex started trying to read part of it. 

“Yeah, the acting group just got a new director, and she’s very… _ enthusiastic _ .” Rose told them. “She won’t let anyone in during rehearsals, she wants it to be a surprise. And the older class is doing a completely different play, they’re going to have to redesign the stage as soon as the week’s performances are over.”

“Pearl,” Alex looked up, confused, “I thought you said that Rainbow was Ariel.”

“Yeah, that’s right.” Pearl nodded. 

Alex looked down at the program, very confused. “Then who’s ‘Iris Quintana-Chavez’?”

Pearl laughed. “That’s Rainbow’s name.”

“I thought her name was Rainbow.” Alex was growing increasingly confused, tipping her head to the side. “Isn’t her last name ‘Universe’?”

“Rainbow’s only being fostered right now, so she’s not a Universe yet.” Pearl explained. “And her name is actually Iris.”

“I told you she was a liar.” Opal said. 

“It’s just a nickname, like Sugi.” Garnet explained. “Or Alex.”

“Can I have a nickname?” Opal asked. 

“If you can think of one.” Garnet shrugged. 

Sardonyx yelled out, “Nemo!”

“Oh, I hope she’s quiet during the show.” Pearl worried, before turning back to Rose. “We’re so excited to see Rainbow, we assumed the main character would have been older.”

“Well, she’s got to be small so they can carry her across the stage.” Garnet explained

Pearl looked up sharply. “They’re  _ carrying  _ her across the  _ stage _ ? What if they  _ drop  _ her?”

“They won’t.” Garnet said. 

“Hey, quick question,” Amethyst decided it was best to change the subject before Pearl started going through all the things that could go wrong. “What are they using for the swimming scenes?”

“Long dresses, waving arms, and some of them have roller skates.” Garnet said. “Rainbow said they were going to use wires, but the harnesses didn’t come on time.”

“ _ Wires _ ?” Pearl asked, horrified. 

“Yeah! Rainbow was really excited for that!” Sugi said. 

“Like in Japan!” Opal added, now playing with the hem of her dress.

“She’s  _ nine _ .” Pearl looked shocked. 

“Relax, P, they’re not using it  _ now _ .” Amethyst sighed. 

The director then came onstage, talking about house regulations- like no food inside the theater (not that that would stop Amethyst), turn all phones off, etc- while the crowd slowly quieted.  Opal looked up at Pearl and whispered, “Is Rainbow coming yet?”

“She’ll be here.” Pearl assured her. “Just a moment; wait until the music starts.”

“I’m  _ bored _ .” Sugi groaned, sliding down in her seat as Garnet shushed her. 

Pearl looked over to Rose, who was looking a little farther down the aisles, towards two empty chairs. “Was someone supposed to come?” she asked. 

Rose nodded. “Rainbow’s grandparents. Maybe they’re just late?”

Pearl didn’t think so, but she said nothing, staring ahead as the director finally finished her opening. Sardonyx, who was sitting on Pearl’s lap, looked up in confusion. “Nemo?” she asked. 

Pearl shook her head. “Mermaids.”

Sardonyx considered, then proudly nodded. “ _ Nemo _ .”

Pearl sighed. “Okay, Sardonyx. It’s Nemo. Shh!”

Sardonyx nodded. “Shh.”

The director finally wrapped up, and walked offstage, the lights dimming. The girls immediately started whispering to their guardians, all some variation of “ _ Is it starting yet _ ?”

Once they quieted down, the lights came up again, kids running out dressed in blue and carrying shiny blue fabric. They seemed very excited for their small role, giggling and looking to each other as they lined up, moving the fabric up and down to mimic ocean waves. Finally, they lifted them into the air, as Rainbow ran through, her hair dyed bright red, wearing the classic purple top, with a long green skirt, a pale green underskirt underneath, attached to her wrist by white bands. As she waved her arms back and forth, her skirt floated, simulating a swimming motion. 

“RAINBOW!” Opal called, waving, as Amethyst shushed her. 

“She’s can’t break character.” Amethyst explained. “Just let her-”

She stopped, because Rainbow started singing.

Her voice was very high, yes, and a little shaky, but there was no denying that she was  _ good _ . As she ran across the stage, singing loudly, she her voice carried around the room, leaving no question as to why she’d been picked to lead. The group stared ahead, shocked, until she ran offstage and a group of sailors started to sing on top of a boat. 

Pearl turned to Rose, whispering, “Did you know she was that good?”

Rose shook her head. “She didn’t like us listening in while she practiced.”

“We’ve gotta get that kid a career in singing.” Greg added, as the characters continued to sing in a messy harmony. 

Pearl felt a tug on her skirt, and looked down to see Opal, looking up at her with an accusatory glare. “Are you  _ sure  _ she’s not really Ariel?”

 

After the show, the director seemed much more calm than when she’d instructed the kids to be completely secretive. She started chatting with Rose and Greg about Rainbow’s progress as Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl tried to herd their kids around. 

“Did you see the eels?” Sugi asked, as if the adults hadn't been sitting right next to her. “They  _ lit up _ !”

“Yes, we saw.” Pearl nodded. 

“Fishy!” Sardonyx yelled, clinging to Pearl’s leg, gesturing to the costumed kids going back and forth down the hall, chatting with their friends and families instead of changing. 

“Yes, they are fish.” Pearl smiled. 

“Is Rainbow gonna come see us yet?” Alex asked. “She’s taking  _ forever _ !”

“She’s probably talking to her friends.” Garnet explained. 

“I thought  _ we  _ were her friends.” Sugi crossed her arms. 

“She can have multiple friends.” Amethyst informed them. 

“Just like you’re friends with Mala.” Garnet added. 

The girls looked to each other. “I  _ guess  _ that’s fair.” Opal finally conceded. 

Finally, the door opened and Rainbow came out, her hair in a high ponytail, wearing her cast t-shirt and jean shorts. Rose and Greg started telling her how well she’d done, which made her face brighten a little. 

“Rainbow!” the girls yelled, running over. Sardonyx attempted to follow, before falling again- she still didn’t have quite enough balance to go as fast as she wanted. Pearl picked her up again and carried her over, as her older sisters crowded Rainbow, asking her tons of questions about the production. 

Garnet decided to interrupt after Opal asked why Rainbow hadn’t told them she was a  _ mermaid.  _ “Alright, girls, don’t overwhelm.”

“It’s okay, they’re just kids.” Rainbow rolled her eyes and smirked, as if she was that much older. 

“You really did great, Rainbow.” Pearl complimented. 

Rainbow beamed. “Yeah, well, it’s been really fun.”

“And you should really get some sleep.” Greg interrupted, prompting a groan from Opal. 

“Yes, you have seven more performances this week.” Rose added. “You need your rest.”

“Thank you for coming!” the director told them. “And Rainbow, great job tonight!”

“Thanks!” Rainbow shot her a thumbs up. 

The director turned to go, but Opal ran up to her. “Wait! Hi, I’m Opal, I’m Rainbow’s friend.”

The director nodded. “Yes, I think Rainbow’s mentioned you.”

Opal nodded, then asked, “So, how did you turn Rainbow into a mermaid?”

“Opal,” Pearl laughed, coming up, “You need some sleep, too.”

The girl giggled, looking up at Pearl. “It’s  _ magic _ here! They put magic in here and tha’s how they make things work.”

“Yes, there is a sort of magic here.” Pearl smiled. 

“Yeah,” Opal added, as they walked away, “And I think the boss lady is a fairy. Tha’s how they get the magic in. She’s a fairy alien and she’s using her magic for good.” she gasped, then looked up. “Do you think there’s an evil fairy out there?”

 

Once the girls had fallen asleep, Pearl turned to her friends. “We’re not letting her listen to Peridot’s conspiracies anymore.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you think I'm ever going to stop the "Garnet Loves Footloose" jokes I have bad news for you


	10. Visiting Amethyst

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I needed to talk about Sugilite. I think we all forgot she existed tbh.

Chapter Ten

 

Sugi looked up at Garnet. “Why are we here again?”

“We’re here to surprise Amethyst.” Garnet reminded her, watching College students filter by out of the building. “To make her happy after class.” She paused, then added, “Also, it might be funny.”

“I’m bored.” Sugi complained, sitting on the edge of the fence surrounding the small garden and kicking the wall. 

“Well,” Garnet said, “I  _ could  _ take you back home and you could go to the ballet with Pearl and your sisters.”

“ _ No! _ ” Sugi groaned, sliding down the wall to the floor. “That’ll be even  _ worse _ !”

“Then you shouldn’t complain.” Garnet shrugged, before handing her a book. “Here. You can get a head start on Math next year.”

“I thought you were teaching us math next year.” Sugi said. “Why do I have a book?”

“Pearl bought your curriculums for pretty much the next three years. That’s yours.” 

Sugi flipped to the middle of the book, throwing away the logic that said she should probably start from the beginning. She looked down with a slight frown. “Why’d they draw the plus sideways?”

Garnet glanced down. “That’s a multiplication sign, Sugi.”

“So it’s different? Why is math so  _ weird _ ?” Sugi asked, shutting the book and banging her head against it. 

Garnet sighed and sat next to her, looking down at the girl. “Wanna see something cool?” she asked. 

Sugi looked up, interest gleaming in her eyes. “Yeah!”

Garnet pulled a pen from her bag, testing it out on Sugi’s textbook, before starting to draw on her own arm. She started small, with a tiny circle, and started to shade in around it, the image growing on her arm. She slowly added more lines, darker shades, more spots of light, until the shape of an eye could be seen. 

“You’re real good!” Sugi said. 

Garnet smiled a little. “Not really.”

“Yeah, ya are!” Sugi told her. “Can you draw a dragon on my arm?”

Garnet shrugged. “Yeah, I don’t see why not.”

She started sketching, a little messy at first, but Sugi didn’t seem to mind, watching curiously as Garnet drew, the lines slowly forming into a long, curved shape, ending in a pointed tail. She drew in silence, as Sugi kept watching, her eyes focused on the small streaks of ink making the image of a large dragon. 

Garnet was close to finishing when a school bell rang. They looked up as students filtered out, and Garnet capped her pen. “That’s about all for now. Look who’s here.”

Sugi looked up, curious, as Amethyst left the building, her huge backpack slung over her shoulder. “AMETHYST!” she yelled, running over and jumping at her. 

Amethyst looked surprised, but managed to catch her in a hug before they both toppled over. Garnet walked up slowly, smirking as Sugi started jabbering on, asking Amethyst where she was and what things were and why was her bag so big?

“Whoa, slow down, kid.” Amethyst laughed. “You’re gonna talk your tongue off.”

“I can do that?” Sugi asked, looking more interested than disgusted at the idea. 

“Yeah, settle down, Sugi.” Garnet said, coming up and picking up the smaller girl. “Give her room to breathe.”

“Garnet?” Amethyst looked surprised and a little nervous. “What, is Pearl here, too?”

“Nope, just us.” Garnet smirked. 

“We came ta surprise you!” Sugi said. “‘N look! Garnet drew a dragon on my arm!”

“Tha’s so cool!” Amethyst said. 

“What’s in the bag?” Garnet interrupted, looking down at the bag which seemed much too big for the classes Amethyst still needed to take. 

Amethyst blushed, pointedly looking away from the bag as she let out a non-convincing smile. “Smaller bags?”

Garnet paused, then said, “You know, so long as it isn’t a body, I don’t really care.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t do anything that’ll get me expelled.” Amethyst rolled her eyes, and turned to Sugi as Garnet put her down. “Hey, classes are over for today! What do you wanna do?”

“Let’s do something fun!” Sugi cheered. 

Amethyst leaned down to her height, a sparkle in her eye. “Let’s watch a movie Pearl doesn’t want you to see!”

“No.” Garnet said, though they both ignored her. 

“Like what movie?” Sugi asked. 

Amethyst whispered, “Ever seen  _ Pan’s Labyrinth _ ?”

“NO.” Garnet said, much more forcefully this time, crossing her arms. 

“Aw.” Amethyst groaned. “Come on, G-Squad, it’s got subtitles! She can learn to read and stuff!”

“Absolutely not.” Garnet said. 

Amethyst thought for a second, before saying, “What about  _ Poltergeist _ ?”

“No.”

“But it’s a  _ classic. _ ”

“Do you  _ want  _ her to have nightmares?”

“Mad Max!”

“That’s Rated R for a reason, Amethyst.”

Sugilite looked up at the two, confused. “Wha’s ‘Rated R’ mean?”

“It means it  _ Really annoys Pearl _ .” Amethyst laughed, ruffling the kid’s hair. “Know what? Forget the movie. Let’s go to Funland, I heard they got a new attraction-  _ Future Boy Zoltron. _ ”

“They got that in the 80’s.” Garnet reminded her, grabbing Sugi’s hand as they walked. 

“Yeah, well, they took it outta storage. I jus’ need to be back in three hours.”

“Why?” Garnet asked. 

“N-no reason.”

Garnet sighed, rubbing her eyes under her glasses. “I’m too tired for this.”

Her phone started to buzz, and she picked it up. “Hold on, it’s Pearl.” she started to talk, walking away. Amethyst heard a vague, “Sardonyx did  _ what _ ?” before she turned to see Sugi looking at a poster on the wall. 

“Um, no, no! Get back here!” Amethyst ran forward, as Sugi turned around. 

“Ame! There’s a wrestlin’ match tonight!”

Amethyst laughed nervously, trying and failing to herd the girl away. “Yeah, they do it all the time. You wouldn’t like it though.”

“Yeah I would!” Sugi protested, looking again at the poster. 

“Yeah, well, Pearl would kill me if she found out you went. She called wrestling matches a ‘circus of violence’ once.” Amethyst rolled her eyes. 

“That sounds  _ awesome. _ ”

“It is.  _ And  _ it’s completely anonymous. So you can beat the crap outta someone and not know who it was the next day.”

Sugi definitely looked interested, but she said, “Tha’ sounds like a weird way to run a school.”

“Oh, the staff  _ hates  _ it. Try to shut it down  _ all the time.  _ If you notice on the poster, there isn’t a place specified. You have to follow clues to find it.”

“Tha’s  _ awesome _ !” Sugi cheered. “I wanna do that when I’m in College!”

“Only if you beat up everyone else!” Amethyst smirked, finally managing to drag her away. “Don’t mention it to Garnet, either, though. She thinks it’s irresponsible. Like she never participated in it.”

“Did she?”

“Don’t ask.” Amethyst laughed. “When we get to Funland, I’m gonna show you how to get so many tickets, we’ll be able to get an airplane!”

“I’m gonna get an airplane first!” Sugi challenged, letting a little giggle escape. 

“You  _ wish _ !”

As they laughed, Garnet walked up, looking a little serious. “Amethyst?”

“Yeah?”

“Apparently Sardonyx yelled a  _ very bad  _ word at the restaurant she took the girls to.”

“YES!” Amethyst cheered, before immediately putting on a frown and saying, “I mean, oh my gosh, a  _ bad word _ ? How could she have  _ learned  _ that?”

Sugi giggled, and after a second Garnet started laughing, too. Once she was sure it was safe, Amethyst burst into hysterics, doubling over. She looked up, then said, “Oh  _ man _ , I wish I’d seen it! Was Pearl really mad at me?”

“Oh  _ no _ , she thought it was  _ hilarious _ .” Garnet chuckled. “But she was a little worried that Alex and Opal may have heard it. Also everyone else in the restaurant.”

They laughed for a little longer, but abruptly stopped when Sugi asked, “So what’d she say?”

They looked to each other, than Amethyst said, “Let’s go to Funland. I’ll drive.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so late, I've had a hectic day. It's a bit short, I hope y'all don't mind. Also it's super cheesy and fluffy but I think y'all expect that at this point. :)

Chapter Eleven

 

Pearl walked in to see the girls running around singing at the top of their lungs.

She paused at the doorway, trying to catch words in the off-key mess that the girls were trying to tie into a bad harmony, but had a difficult time, especially since they were all running around in circles while doing it.

She slowly closed the door, walking forward. “I miss anything?” she asked, as the girls noticed her.

“We’re Defying Gravity, Pearl!” Opal yelled, before running up and hugging her leg.

“You’re what?” Pearl asked.

“Like Elphie!” Sugi explained.

Pearl realized what they were talking about, and let out a little sigh. “Oh! Did Garnet and Amethyst show you _Wicked_!”

“ _No one mourns the wicked_!” Alex yelled, grabbing onto Sugi’s arm.

“Sugi’s the wicked one.” Opal explained, as Pearl made her way over to the girls.

“Oh, nobody’s the wicked one.” Pearl said. “You’re all very good.”

“But then who’s the wicked one?” Sugi asked. “Someone has ta do it.”

“Nobody _has_ to do it.” Pearl explained. “You don’t need a Wicked person.”

They considered, then Alex said, “What if _Sardonyx_ is the wicked one?”

Pearl sighed, then changed the subject, filing this away to talk about later. “I actually have something to talk to you girls about.”

“Are we getting a _parrot_?” Opal asked.

Pearl blinked. “Why would we be getting a parrot?”

“I don’t know.”

Sugi looked a bit concerned. “Did Amethyst get in trouble at school?”

“Why would she get in trouble at school?”

“Because she’s watching R movies!”

Pearl let out another sigh and continued on. “Alex, I just realized your birthday is in a few weeks.”

“Is it?” Alex asked. “How old am I?”

“You’re going to be eight.”

“Oh. Cool.”

Pearl nodded. “Yes, I was wondering what you’d like to do for it.”

Alex looked confused. “Do… for what?”

“For your birthday?”

Alex looked to her sisters, who looked just as puzzled as her. “You mean like, do I wanna be _nine_ instead? Can I do that?”

Pearl was confused. “Haven’t you had a birthday party before?”

“A _party_?” Opal asked, her eyes lighting up.

“Yes.” Pearl explained, watching with a slight feeling of uncomfortableness as the girls got more and more excited, realizing this was the first time any of this had been brought up to them. “We get cake and invite guests and we all come to celebrate being a year older, and sometimes they bring presents.”

“You mean like, free stuff?” Alex asked, starting to look very interested.

“Yes.”

“We get _free stuff_?” Sugi asked.

“Only the Birthday Kid gets the presents. You have to wait for your birthday to get them.”

Sugi threw her arms in the air and yelled, “THIS IS CAPITALIST!”

Pearl buried her face in her hands and let out a groan as Opal laughed. “I’m never letting Amethyst teach you girls new words again.” She then looked up, and asked, “Where is Amethyst, anyway?”

“She’s readin’ a book to Sardonyx.” Opal told her, vaguely distracted by her own pigtail.

“Ugh, it’s probably _Passions of Xanthor_ or something just to tick me off.” Pearl muttered to herself, before turning back to the girls. “Anyway, Alex, I was wondering if you wanted your party to have a theme.”

“Can we have breadsticks?” Alex asked.

“You want the theme to be breadsticks?”

“Do I get breadsticks if I say yes?”

Pearl shrugged. “You know, we’ll just do a casual get-together. We can have Ruby and Sapphire come, oh, and Rainbow, you girls can play horses…”

“Can Mala come?” Alex asked.

“Malachite?” Pearl asked. The girls had seen her maybe three times total.

“Yeah, we can’t play without Human Speaker!” Sugi jumped in. “She’s the only one who can unite the herds!”

“Is she?” Pearl asked.

“Well, Water Visions said so.”

“Which one was that?”

“Rainbow’s!”

Pearl considered. “I mean, I guess I can ask Lapis.”

“Can Ms. Peridot come?” Opal asked. “She’s nice!”

“You just like her cause she gave you candy.” Sugi accused, crossing her arms, as if Peridot hadn’t won her over with sweets as well.

“Yeah! And we watched the cool movie with her, too! Can she bring _another_ cool movie?”

“Why don’t you all talk about it,” Pearl said, as she stood up, “While I go check on Amethyst and Sardonyx. And tell Garnet what you want to do when she gets home.”

“Okay.” they nodded, then immediately sat down with a buzz of excitement, chatting about a mixture of party plans, _Wicked_ references and Opal’s occasional outburst of “ _Ghostbusters_! Tha’s the cool movie!”

Pearl walked down the hall to the girls’ room, hearing Amethyst read aloud from inside. She quietly pushed the door open, careful not to make a sound, and was surprised to see that Amethyst was reading a normal kids’ book, and Sardonyx seemed completely engrossed, sitting on Amethyst’s lap and pointing to pictures.

“The kitten asked, ‘Are you my mommy?’” Amethyst read, “And Smoky said, ‘No! I am just a kitten, like you.’”

“Kitten!” Sardonyx repeated.

“Yes, good!” Amethyst cheered, flipping the page. “And then the kitten sat down and cried, saying, ‘Why can’t I find my mommy? Where has she gone?’”

“Oh no!” Sardonyx said.

“Don’t worry, Sardine. Look what’s next!” Amethyst turned the page again. “The kitten heard footsteps, and a voice asking, ‘Why are you crying?’ The kitten said, ‘I’m crying because I can’t find my mommy!’

“‘What is your mommy like?’ the voice asked, and the kitten replied, ‘I don’t know, I’ve never met her.’”

“Then Smoky told them, ‘My mommy takes care of me, and loves me, and protects me from harm! And she is amazing and beautiful and I love her, too!’

“Kitten said, ‘I’ve never had that.’

“And the voice said, ‘Oh, Kitten! If you want, I can be your mommy!’”

“Yay!” Sardonyx cheered, throwing up her arms and nearly hitting Amethyst’s face.

“Yay!” Amethyst cheered along, before catching sight of Pearl out of the corner of her eye and freezing up. “Oh, uh, hey, Pearl! You’re home early!”

Pearl had been watching with rapt attention, in a quiet happiness that Amethyst was getting along with the girl so much. She walked in a little, shrugging. “Yeah. The roads were a lot clearer today.”

Sardonyx looked up at Pearl, and her face lit up when she saw that she had come home. “ _Mommy_!”

Both Pearl and Amethyst froze, which did not affect the toddler. She reached her arms up, hoping for Pearl to pick her up, unperturbed by the silence until Pearl started crying. Her face fell, and she asked, “Mommy? Sad?”

Pearl shook her head, trying to effectively wipe her tears away before walking up and picking up her toddler, giving her a hug as she did.

“That is _so cute!_ ” Amethyst eventually said, grabbing her phone from the ground and snapping a photo before Pearl could stop her.

Pearl sighed and slowly sat beside Amethyst, moving Sardonyx onto her lap. Sardonyx grabbed Pearl’s hand, repeating to herself a cycle of “Prrl!” and “Mommy!”, which wasn’t going to stop Pearl from crying anytime soon.

“Why don’t we let Ame finish the story?” Pearl asked, as Sardonyx turned again to Amethyst.

“Yay!” Sardonyx grinned, as Amethyst laughed and picked the book up.

“And the kitten said, ‘Oh, yes! I would love for you to be my mommy!’ And so Smoky’s new friend joined his family, and they walked off together, all the way back home!”


	12. Safe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy. Oh this turned out longer than I thought it would. You guys ever get that feeling where you start writing, and you get so into it you look back and you're like "this should have ended two pages ago" but you can't stop? Yeah, this is like the third time this has happened for this fic. It's just so fun to do!
> 
> Thanks again for the nice comments! They really are inspiring! :)

Chapter Twelve

 

“MALA!”

Mala started in her seat, calming down once she recognized the voices as belonging to Alex, Sugi and Opal. She looked over her shoulder to see the girls running towards her, and a very stressed-out Amethyst chasing after them. They ran up to her otherwise empty table and slid next to her, all talking a mile a minute.

“What are you doing here?” Mala asked once they had all calmed down a bit.

“We’re visiting Pearl!” Opal exclaimed, looking very excited.

“Yeah, she’s got a lunch break after the younger kids.” Sugi said, probably repeating whatever Garnet or Amethyst had told her. “We got here a bit early, though.” 

“What are  _ you _ doing?” Alex asked, looking excited.

“Eatin’ lunch.” Mala said, gesturing to the food set out in front of her.

The girls looked disappointed that there wasn’t something else more exciting going on. “So you go here now?” Opal asked.

“I have been for a while.” Mala shrugged. “‘ll be in FIRST Grade next year!”

As the girls started asking questions again, Amethyst finally managed to catch up. “You can’t just  _ bolt _ like that!” she said, looking very annoyed. “I can’t keep track of you if you all run off!”

“It’s Mala!” Alex said, as if that excused everything.

“Yeah, but I don’t want to lose sight of you. This is a big school, you might end up lost.” Amethyst sighed.

“Like Garnet?” Opal inquired.

Amethyst groaned. “ _ No _ , Garnet’s not lost.”

“Then where’d she go?” Opal continued, which caused the others to sigh a little; Mala inferred they’d gone over this a couple of times.

“She’s taking care of Sardonyx.” Amethyst explained again. “Remember?”

Opal thought for a second, then nodded. “Oh! Yeah! She’s coming back, right?”

Amethyst nodded. “Yep. And until she gets back,  _ you can’t go running off _ .”

“Sorry.” Alex and Sugi said, though Opal still seemed confused.

“Did we run off?”

Mala turned to Amethyst. “Hi, Ms. Amethyst.” 

“Hey, kid.” Amethyst nodded. “You doin’ alright?”

Mala nodded. “Classes _might_ be kinda hard, but none of the kids are tryin’ to lock me outside for not wanting to talk to em.”

“Yeah, that’s a bonus!” Alex nodded. 

“Do you go to school here?” Opal asked.

Mala shrugged; her Mom had briefed her on Opal’s short term memory. “I’m just kinda watching right now. School’s almost over, so I’m jus’ watching classes to see if I like it.”

“Are you gonna have classes with Pearl?” Opal tilted her head a little, twirling her braid.

Mala shook her head. “She teaches the older students, ‘n her class is optional.”

“Wha’s optional mean?” Sugi asked Amethyst.

“It means you only take it if you want to.” Amethyst shrugged, digging through her backpack for a bag of chips.

“But  _ everyone _ wants ta be in Pearl’s class!” Alex protested, looking very confused that somebody would hesitate to join a swordfighting class.

“Is your teacher nice?” Amethyst asked, trying to bring Mala back into the conversation.

“Yeah!” Mala nodded. “Sometimes she tries to make me talk in class, but mostly she says she’s okay that I’m quiet so long as I pay ‘tention.” 

“That’s good.” Amethyst nodded, finally digging out some food from her bag. 

“Yeah!” Mala nodded. “And I can stay a little late and do my homework in class while I wait for Mom to come pick me up!” 

“Wha’s homework?” Alex asked.

“It’s when you take schoolwork home to finish there.” Mala told her.

“Oh! That’s what we do!” Sugi announced, appearing excited. “We do our homework with Garnet and Amethyst, and Pearl when she gets home!”

“Actually,” Amethyst said, “That’s just schoolwork. We just happen to do it at home.” 

“Tha’s confusing.” Sugi pouted, after pondering this for a second.

Before she could say anything else, Opal, who’d sat across from the others, peered over their heads and yelled, “ _ Garnet! _ ”

They looked around as Garnet walked towards them, holding Sardonyx, who waved to them and yelled, “SIS!”

Garnet walked over, moving to sit by Opal, placing Sardonyx inbetween them. “Well, Sardonyx doesn’t smell anymore. Hello, Mala.”

Mala nodded, quieting a little once she realized how many people were around her. 

“Prrl!” Sardonyx said, pointing to the new girl.

“No, Mala.” Garnet corrected gently.

“Prrl!”

“Jus’ ignore her.” Amethyst shrugged. “Pretty much anyone she doesn’t know is named Pearl now.”

“Includin’ me.” Opal added.

“Prrl!”

“O-pal.” Opal pronounced slowly.

Sardonyx was distracted by a couple of kids behind her who had accidentally dropped a lunchbox on the ground and started laughing, looking around with a curiosity. 

“Alex,” Garnet said, grabbing Sardonyx’s hand to make sure she didn’t try to run over. “Didn’t you have something to ask Mala?”

“Oh! Yeah!” Alex grinned, looking over at the girl. “I’m gettin’ a year older in a few weeks and I’m gettin’ free stuff outta it!”

“Oh, you’re having a party?” Mala asked. She’d only had a few birthdays so far, but Lapis had usually gotten her a new toy or two and then taken her out for ice cream, but a couple kids at her old schools had mentioned having friends over or something.

“Yeah, and we wanna know if you can come!” Alex said. “You can bring your doll and we can play Herds for, like,  _ all day _ !”

“When is it?” Mala asked.

Alex shrugged.

“We can talk to your Mum about it.” Garnet informed Mala, noticing that she was looking a little nervous. “We just wanted to know if you wanted to come first.”

“How many people are gonna be there?”

“Um, I think jus’ us and Rainbow.” Alex thought. “Ms. Rose and Mr. Greg might come too but they’ll be talking with the other grown-ups so we can hang out in my room. We made  _ maps _ !”

“Oh, and I made the Horse Stone!” Sugi interrupted. “It’s a marble in a pile o’ clay and it looks great!”

“An’ I remember my horse’s name!” Opal added, feeling left out.

“What was it?” Alex asked.

Opal paused. “Um…”

“Garnet!” Sardonyx yelled.

“Y-yeah!” Opal said.

As a bell rang, Mala looked up. “Oh. I need to find my class.”

“Can we come?” Opal asked.

“No, we’re gonna have lunch with Pearl.” Sugi reminded her.

“Oh! Yeah!” Opal beamed. “She’s gonna be so happy to see us!”

“Mommy?” Sardonyx asked, looking up at Opal. 

“Yeah!” Opal nodded. “Pearl!”

“Prrl… Mommy.” Sardonyx said, as if explaining to Opal. 

“So she calls Pearl her Mom now?” Mala asked, as she shoved the rest of her food into her lunchbox. 

“She’s referred to Garnet as Mom sometimes.” Amethyst shrugged. “I think she thinks it’s an appointed title for whoever happens to be nearest to her at the moment.”

“We’ll see ya later, Mala!” Alex said. 

“Yeah!” Mala waved, running off after the Kindergarten class she’d been shadowing, as Garnet started herding her girls up to go find Pearl before the older kids arrived for their lunch period. 

 

Mala didn’t bring up the party until later in the day, mostly because she’d forgot. 

She and her Mom had dinner after school, and Mala had told her about her day, and then went to bed, but she’d gotten bored and wandered downstairs to watch TV with Lapis. 

Lapis was watching some show that Mala didn’t quite understand, but people kept talking about “victim” and talking to each other about “victim” and talking to people in dark rooms. Lapis told her she could watch so long as she looked away when a scary part was coming up. 

While they were watching, Mala said, “Oh! Alex, Sugi and Opal were at school today!”

“Were they?” Lapis asked, not seeming surprised. 

“Yeah, and Alex said in a few weeks she’s gonna have a birthday party and I can go play horses again!”

Lapis looked ahead at the screen, but Mala could tell she was thinking. “When is it?” she finally asked. 

“Ms. Garnet said she’d talk to you if I wanted to come.”

Lapis thought again. “Yeah, I guess I’ll have to talk to them. We’ll have to figure out when it is, where it is…”

“Can’t you just find their house like you did Ms. Peridot’s?” 

Lapis let out a little laugh. “I have a feeling Pearl doesn’t have her address splattered all over her blog. Honestly, did Peridot’s parents never give her the Internet Safety talk?”

“I don’t think she cares.” Mala shrugged. 

“Yeah, she doesn’t tend to listen to other people.” Lapis explained, turning to her daughter with a huge grin on her face- Mala loved hearing her Mom tell stories, and Lapis loved telling them. “When we were in College, we were in a lot of the same classes, and she never listened to  _ anybody _ . She’d turn in her homework, but it’d be about twelve pages longer than required.”

“Tha’s good?” Mala asked, a little confused. 

“Sometimes. And sometimes the teachers just wanted to get through their grading and ended up yelling at her. And then she’d yell back and get into trouble.”

“She got into trouble a lot?” Mala asked. 

“She wasn’t the only one.” Lapis smirked. “I was a sarcastic little... I was very rude.”

“You were?”

“Yeah, don’t do that, Megladon.” Lapis explained. “You’ve got to be polite, your teachers are trying their best.”

“But you didn’t know that yet?”

“Didn’t really care. I was going through some stuff, so I coped by talking back. So Peridot and I were in detention a lot, and ended up as study partners. She’d actually pretty good at it, it’s the actual writing and presenting part that throws her off.”

“Mom?” Mala interrupted quietly, and Lapis looked down at her again. “Can I ask a question?”

“Y-yeah, anything.” Lapis seemed a little wary though, as if she wasn’t sure she wanted to know what her daughter was going to ask. 

“Why’s she only got one foot?” 

Lapis laughed, her hesitance gone. Mala felt a little proud that she’d asked the right question, one that made her Mom happy. “To be honest, I don’t know. She tells a different story every time you ask.”

“She  _ lies _ ?”

“More like  _ exaggerates _ .” Lapis shrugged. 

They laughed a little, then looked back at the TV, where the main characters were looking through a dark house, whispering to each other. Suddenly, there was complete silence, with even the footsteps halting. Lapis raised a hand to her mouth and blew a raspberry, which made Mala giggle uncontrollably. Lapis grinned and did it again, and Mala tried to copy her, failing due to her laughing fit. Lapis laughed, too, and picked up Mala and spun around, which did nothing to help them stop their giggles. They fell back onto the couch again, and kept laughing until Lapis’s phone started to ring. 

Lapis still giggled a little as she picked her phone up, but slowly grew more serious as she saw who was calling. She paused the TV, and turned to her daughter, who’d noticed the sudden stillness in the room. “Honey, why don’t you go to bed?”

“‘m not tired.” Mala said. 

Lapis sighed. “Please, Malachite?”

Mala slowly nodded, giving her Mom a quick hug before heading out of the room and into the hall. She would have kept going, until she heard Lapis answer, surprised to her hear a tinge of fear in her voice. “Hey, Bob speaking.”

Pause. “Wait! Wait! Calm down, cuz, it’s a codename. Nobody’s listening in? … Okay, what is it?”

Mala quietly crept back, feeling nervous, keeping herself hidden behind the wall. Mom had never mentioned having a cousin- or any family for that matter. The person seemed to be talking a lot, because Lapis was nodding and making little “hmm” noises. 

“And you threw them off the trail? … Good thinking, Texas is pretty big… No, you didn’t need to tell them I left the country, if they think you have a bigger idea of where I am they’ll press you for more info, trust me. Just a minor suggestion was a good idea. It was _just_ my parents though, not… Okay. I’ve managed to get clear of everyone so far and I don’t want to get tracked down. Listen, if they find where I am, tell them I’m working on Saturdays. I’m there on the weekdays, and the other lifeguards have been briefed on the situation… No, not the beach, the pool. Yeah, they’ve got a beach here and they  _ still _ have a chlorine-filled pool, too… Oh, good idea, if they think I’m at the beach they won’t even bother to ask about a pool.”

Mala was confused; what was Mom talking about? Words were bouncing around in her head, not really of any meaning to her, but ones that seemed to put Lapis on edge. Then she heard her Mom ask another thing, and started feeling very uncomfortable, almost  _cold_.

“They don’t know about Mala, do they? … Malachite. They don’t know- Oh, thank goodness. Not even a slight idea? … They’ve  _ what _ ? … Well, good. Maybe she actually thought for more than a second and figured out when something was a bad idea. Has she been in contact with you? That’s good. I’m not sure she even knows you… she’s not  _ worried _ . She just… NO!”

Mala jumped as Lapis yelled, but thankfully Lapis didn’t seem to hear her. “No, please. Please don’t, you know if you let anything slip they’ll find me. I can’t move Mala again, I think she’s finally found a good school. I’ve got a good job, and Mala’s even made some friends. You can’t… no… _I’m_ sorry. I overreacted. You’re right, I trust you. Sorry for being so jumpy, it’s just… You do? … Thanks. You’re probably the only family I’ve even got left… how is everyone? … Yeah, I figured. She’s doing  _ what _ ?”

Mala listened a little longer, staying quiet. Her mom’s conversation had drifted to other things, as she asked about people Mala didn’t know. Everything she’d heard jumbled around in her head, a logical conclusion not seeming to reach her. She wasn’t exactly sure what her Mom was talking about, what was going on. She wasn’t even really scared, though she thought she should be; she was still trying to figure out what was going on. The phrases her Mom had said started to fade, replaced with even more bewilderment. By this point, she wasn’t even sure why she’d stopped to listen, but she still retained some information- like that Mom was hiding from  _ someone _ , and she really didn’t want to be found.

She stayed for a second after her Mom hung up, listening. She seemed to be screaming into a pillow. Should she go talk to her? No, then she’d know she’d been listening. And she seemed really stressed, and also like she hadn’t wanted her hearing anything. She still didn’t have quite a good grasp of what was going on, but she could tell something was wrong. Who  _ didn’t  _ want to see their family? But she shouldn’t ask, obviously it was important to her Mom for them to stay away. Mala tiptoed back up to her room, huddling in bed and staring up at the shadows on the ceiling. 

Lapis came up a bit later, looking a little on edge. When she saw Mala was still awake, she sat on the edge of her bed, waiting until Mala looked up at her. “Hey, Megladon. Still awake?”

“Hey.” Mala said, trying to sound tired. “Who was calling?”

Lapis let out a nervous laugh. “It was no one, just one of my friends.”

“Really?” Mala asked. 

Lapis didn’t meet her gaze, and changed the subject. “Hey, Mala, can you do something for me?”

Mala nodded. 

“You’re not gonna understand why, and I can’t really explain, but can you do it anyway?”

“I can try.”

Lapis sighed. “If someone you don’t know- someone who’s not Peridot or Pearl or any of them- asks about me, where to find me, or if you even know me, just act like you don’t know who I am, okay?”

Mala nodded.

“Thanks, sweetie.” Lapis smiled, looking over at her.

“W-why?” Mala finally questioned, hesitating in case her question made her Mom sad. 

Lapis’s expression didn’t change, but Mala still felt nervous. Had she been expecting the question? She finally responded, “Do you remember, about…  _ three _ schools ago, when you had that really mean teacher?”

“Which one?”

“The one who favored the rich kids, and always gave you bad grades because you had trouble spelling, instead of helping you learn how to do it better?”

“Yeah?”

“I had a lot of people like that, except nobody believed me when I told them. And… it’d just be really great if they didn’t know I was hanging around here. Do you understand?”

Mala nodded, and Lapis continued, “You don’t have to be scared. If someone asks about me, they might seem scary, but so long as you stay as brave as you have been for this long, they won’t even be able to get near you. Just whatever you do, don’t mention me and don’t go anywhere with them.”

Mala smiled a little. “Okay.”

“Thanks, Megladon.” Lapis gave her a quick hug. When she pulled away, she blew another raspberry, which caused Malachite to giggle a little again. Malachite managed to blow her own raspberry this time, and they laughed together. 

Lapis wished her goodnight, and left. Mala curled up again, thinking. Slowly, she turned the lamp on her nightstand on, letting it shine the room with light. That way the shadows didn’t scare her any more. She’d always wondered why Lapis didn’t have her own nightlight, but now she thought she understood. Her Mom was so brave that she wasn’t even scared of the dark.


	13. The Answer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, I'm sorry this is so late, my class ran overtime and then we had to go to my Grandpa's birthday. I'll try to get the next chapter in on time.
> 
> Anyway, I heard that "The Answer" was nominated for an Emmy.

Chapter Thirteen

 

“ _ Ms. Sapphire! Look! _ ”

Sapphire turned around to see Opal point up at a giant stuffed animal bird, way too high on the shelf for her to reach and about twice her size. “It’s a  _ bird _ !” she yelled again, grinning. 

“Yes, it is.” Sapphire nodded. 

“It looks  _ so fluffy _ !” 

“Mm-hmm.” 

Opal looked up at it again, then wandered off to another toy, squealing. Sapphire shot a quick glance at Ruby, who was being dragged around by Sugi and Alex. Sapphire turned back to Opal, who let out another squeal. “Look at the  _ bird _ !”

Sapphire slowly walked to Opal, then whispered, “Do you think Alex would like it?”

“ _ I  _ would like it.” Opal said. 

“Yes, but we came to the mall for Alex, remember?” Sapphire whispered, glancing to make sure the oldest girl was fully distracted before turning back to Opal. “She doesn’t know, but we’re going to get your presents for her.”

“Oh.” Opal paused, thinking. “Well, Alex likes… apples. And… you know what she likes! She likes  _ watermelons _ !”

Sapphire smiled, “Alright, think you can find a toy watermelon?”

“I can try!” Opal said, before running off towards Sugi, whispering “Watermelon” to herself. 

Sapphire caught up to Ruby, watching carefully as the girls wandered the store. “Maybe we should’ve let Pearl take them.”

“Naw, we’re having fun.” Ruby shrugged. “I mean, I think we are? Sugi keeps going back to the action figures, and Alex just seems to like everything. Plus, Pearl needs a break.”

“Yeah.” Sapphire nodded. “And the girls are keeping busy, too. Sugi and Opal really like the idea of surprising Alex with a toy.”

“Well, Opal likes the idea when she can remember it.” Ruby shrugged, before looking back at the girls and seeing the youngest start to wander. “Nope! Opal! Stay here!”

Sapphire giggled a little, walking around to where Alex and Sugi were staring at some dolls on display. “Which ones are those?” she asked. 

Alex excitedly started pointing them out- she’d read the books the dolls were based on. Sugi yawned. “They’re not as cool as the Dragon Army.” she said, referencing some of the action figures she’d liked. 

“Oh, really?” Alex smirked. “You  _ love  _ these books! This one’s your favorite!”

“Shut up!” Sugi laughed, playfully shoving Alex in the arm. 

Sapphire let out a laugh, before asking Alex to tell her about the one in the corner. As she talked, Sapphire leaned closer to Sugi, whispering. “You want to get her one of those?”

Sugi shook her head. “Pearl says maybe for Christmas, whatever that means. I think I wanna get ‘er the new book, though. They released a buncha bonus books and she really likes readin’ with em.”

“That’s a good idea.” Sapphire said, before looking around. “Where is your sister?”

“Ms. Sapphire!” Opal yelled, running towards her, with Ruby following behind. “I found a thing!”

Sapphire looked over. “Really?”

“Yeah!” Opal said, before looking to her sister. “Hi, Alex.”

Alex waved before returning to her rant on the Continuity between series. 

“Look over there!” Opal muttered to Sapphire, pointing to a far shelf. “See the dog? It’s a watermelon dog!”

Sapphire did see a green puppy with darker green spots. “I guess it is.”

“That would be  _ great _ !”

Ruby walked up behind Sapphire. “I got a picture of it, I can send it to Pearl now.”

Sapphire nodded. “That’s a good idea. Let’s take the girls to the food court, we can get lunch before we take them home.” 

“Yeah.” Ruby nodded. “Kay, girls, let’s go get food!”

“Yay!” Opal and Sugi cheered, running up to Alex and dragging her away, chatting about the food they’d seen on the way in. 

As they walked, Sapphire glanced around the store windows, taking in the variety of items they offered for future reference.

“Let’s get pizza!” Alex suggested. 

“Okay!” Ruby grinned. “Um, Sapphy, what do you want on it?”

“Nothing.” Sapphire said, as the girls started shooting out their toppings. 

As Ruby relayed the information to the girl at the register, Sapphire started glancing around the small area, taking in the girl’s demeanor and word phrasing. When they eventually walked away, Sapphire, turned to Ruby and whispered, “Should I congratulate her on her engagement?”

Ruby laughed. “Sapphire, that’s creepy!”

“How do ya know she’s engaged?” Sugi asked, as they stopped at a table and Ruby started separating the pizza. 

“She’s incredibly happy, but looks also very stressed. Probably planning the wedding. She kept rubbing the ring on her finger, as if she wasn’t used to it being there.” Sapphire explained. “She kept patting her pocket, probably checking to see if the phone was buzzing, in anticipation of questions or party planning.”

“Wow.” Opal said. “I don’t even ‘member what she looked like.”

“How do you  _ do  _ that?” Alex asked, looking very impressed. 

“Sapphire’s been super observant since she was a kid.” Ruby explained. “Almost to the point of being really scary.”

“Yeah,” Sapphire smiled, elbowing her wife a little. “People actually thought I was psychic for a while.”

Ruby started to blush. “We’re not gonna talk about that.”

Sapphire laughed. “Aw, but Ruby, wasn’t that fun?”

“We almost died several times.”

“Yeah, but aren’t we better off for it?” 

“Not really.”

“Oh, but Ruby,” Sapphire smirked, “If we hadn’t done that, we wouldn’t have had the money to go to England and meet Garnet.”

“Ugh, you’re right.” Ruby sighed. “Unless we got your Mom to pay for it.”

“She disowned me when I was sixteen.”

“Yeah, but if we forged the-”

“Wait,  _ you  _ had a mom?” Opal asked Sapphire, surprised. 

“Yes. And sisters.” Sapphire replied, her voice dropping to almost a whisper. 

“You had  _ sisters _ ?” Alex asked. 

“Wha’s  _ disowned _ ?” Sugi raised an eyebrow. 

“ _ You were a baby, too? _ ”

Ruby shushed them. “I, uh, don’t think Sapphy wants to…”

“No, it’s fine.” Sapphire sighed. “Yes, Opal, we told you,  _ everyone  _ was a baby. Even you.”

“ _ Even me _ ?” Opal looked horrified at the thought.

“Yes, and then we grow up. Sardonyx will grow up someday, too.”

“ _ No _ !” Opal yelled. “She has to be cute and little  _ forever _ !”

“If you didn’t, she doesn’t hafta.” Sugi shrugged. 

Opal paused, pouting, before saying, “Was I a  _ cute  _ baby?”

“You were adorable.” Alex informed her sister. “I taught ya how to walk.”

“ _ Really _ ?”

Sapphire and Ruby looked at each other as the girls laughed. “You okay?” Ruby asked, worried. 

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Sapphire assured her. “I haven’t talked to my mom in almost twenty years now. She doesn’t bother me anymore.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” Sapphire then smirked. “Let’s talk about Ruby’s sisters.”

“You had sisters too?” Alex inquired. 

Ruby laughed. “Oh, yeah! I was one of triplets. We used to play  _ so  _ many pranks on people! Believe it or not,  _ I  _ was the sane one of the group!”

As the girls expressed their disbelief at that, Sapphire stared down at her ring. She’d been the one to propose- she knew Ruby would have been a nervous wreck if she’d left it to her to ask. She’d saved up enough money to get them matching rings; a ruby and a sapphire. Ruby had the sapphire. So they’d technically always be together. No Ruby without her Sapphire, no Sapphire without her Ruby. 

How far they’d come. 

 

\---

 

Sapphire hid her face, her bangs falling over her bad eye like they always did. Wandering the school’s halls, she kept her gaze on the ground, on the footsteps of people passing by. She tried to guess things about them by their shoes- the one with scuffed tennis shoes was obviously a game player, probably basketball. No, there shouldn’t  _ be  _ a probably. If she was going to run her mother’s business one day, she’d have to be able to read everything about a person at first sight. Her mother could do it, her sisters could do it. Well, they could read everyone but her, something she prided herself on. Her emotions were hidden just as well as her eye, her one sign of weakness. 

She approached her locker, putting in the new combination; her mother insisted she change it every week. And the first day of school was no exception. As she tried to layer her books in, keeping an order based on classes, she vaguely heard a conversation behind her. Something about a family group being in the same class “Eleven years and running now!” Sapphire sighed, her interest lost when they started talking about beating people up in boxing. Such an awful sport, her mother always said, nothing but unnecessary physical violence. And of course she agreed. She’d learned to do nothing less. 

Of course, not listening to the world around her had its drawbacks. As Sapphire closed her locker and turned around, she didn’t notice when a body rammed into her from the side, knocking her to the ground. 

Everyone seemed to freeze and turn to stare. Of course they all knew the rich, important Sapphire, though they rarely dared to approach her because of the easy way she could read their intentions, lives and secrets. But they all knew one thing: you don’t mess with her. And she’d just been knocked over by someone she didn’t even know. 

She blinked, trying to regain her composure. She looked up to see the girl had fallen on top of her, seemingly frozen. She then pulled herself up on her hands, looking down in shock at the girl she’d hit. They stared for a second, before she gasped and pulled herself off. “Oh, I, um… I’m so sorry, I… let me, uh…”

“I’m fine.” Sapphire finally said, pulling herself together and sitting up. 

“What?” the girl asked, confused. 

“It’s okay.” Sapphire sighed. “It was bound to happen… eventually.”

“I, uh… okay.” the girl glanced around, blushing so much her face was almost red. “I can… uh, your books!”

Sapphire slowly started to gather her spilled books, mumbling a, “Yes, you’re right.”

“No, let me!” the girl said, bending over to help, brushing her hand against Sapphire’s as they both reached for the same textbook. 

Sapphire looked up at the girl, curiosity in her gaze. The girl had an afro, pulled back by a banana clip, which bounced as she bent down. Her eyes were a light brown, sparkling from the light above her. She blushed even more when she caught Sapphire’s gaze, their eyes locked on each other’s. “You, um… you have blue eyes.” If she could have blushed harder, she would have. 

“Um, yes. They’re… blue.” Sapphire affirmed, wondering why she couldn’t seem to say any more. 

“Hey, Rubes, should we leave you two alone?” came a voice that sounded similar to the girl’s, from behind her.

“Sh-shut up!” the girl yelled, which caused the other girls to laugh. Sapphire glanced at them quickly before looking down to the floor, but she could see they were nearly identical to the girl who’d bumped into her. Her sisters, probably. Oh, they were the ones she’d heard talking earlier. She looked back to the girl who’d knocked into her, starting to realize, with a frustration, she found it hard to get a good read on her. Outside of the fact she was nervous as all heck, of course. 

“Um, thank you.” Sapphire said as the girl handed her her books and helped her to her feet, thinking back on what her sister had just called her. “Ruby, is it?”

“Uh, yeah.” Ruby nodded. “And you’re…”

“Sapphire.” Sapphire nodded, slowly letting go of the girl’s hand. “Nice… nice running into you.”

Ruby kept blushing as her sisters laughed behind her. The other students who had been watching were starting to move now, disappointed that there hadn’t been some sort of show. 

“I’ll, uh, see ya around?” Ruby asked, questioningly. 

“Yes. I believe I will. That’s your locker, isn’t it?” Sapphire asked, gesturing to the locker Ruby had been heading for when they’d bumped into each other. 

“Uh, yeah. How did-”

“I figure things out fast.” Sapphire shrugged. “See you later, Ruby.”

“Uh, yeah.” Ruby waved a little, glancing at the ground and smiling a little. “S-see ya.”

As Sapphire turned to head to class, she found, to her annoyance, that she couldn’t get the thought out of her head of how nice that girl’s smile had been. 

 

\---

 

“They weren’t any trouble?” Garnet asked, holding Sardonyx with one arm and sending a text to Pearl with the other. The girls ran around her, telling her about stuff they’d seen while they went out. 

“Of course not.” Sapphire assured her. “They’re too busy trying to tell us their life story to make any trouble.”

“Opal’s still amazed that people grow up.” Ruby informed her. 

Garnet let out a laugh. “Oh, yeah. You know, Rose said she was exactly the same.”

“Oh, well then maybe she can explain better.” Ruby sighed, watching as the girls ran off to say hi to Amethyst. “She asked me where kids come from again, and I don’t think she believed my ‘they come out of the ground’ story.”

“No, she’s too smart for that.” Sapphire teased. 

“Yeah, and you were no help.”

“You’re cute when you get flustered.”

“Yeah, well, you look cute when you’re saving me from having to give the Talk to a bunch of toddlers in the middle of a mall.” 

Sapphire stopped Ruby’s rant by giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Okay, I’m sorry.”

Ruby started to blush. “Uh… okay.”

“ _ Mum _ .” Garnet groaned. 

“What, you thought we’d stop being embarrassing after you moved out?” Sapphire threw an arm around Ruby, who started laughing. “Oh, it’ll get worse now that you have kids.”

“They’re Pearl’s kids.” Garnet protested. 

Sardonyx looked up at her. “Mommy!”

“You,” Garnet turned to the toddler, giving her a glare, “Are not helping.”

Unbothered, Sardonyx tried to grab Garnet’s glasses again. 

“We’ll see you at Alex’s party, then?” Ruby said, still giggling a little. 

“Yeah.” Garnet nodded. “Thanks again.”

“No probs.” Ruby shrugged as they said their goodbyes and turned to go. 

Sapphire slipped her hand into Ruby’s, sighing and leaning her head on her shoulder. “I’m so lucky to have you.” she said. 

“I’m luckier.”

“Sure you are.” Sapphire laughed, and the two walked off together. 


	14. Coffee

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna save this for the original air date of "Fusion Cuisine", but since that's all the way in November, I decided to stop stalling and just do it now.

Chapter Fourteen

 

Bracing herself for what was coming, Mala rung the doorbell.

Immediately, she heard footsteps run up as Alex opened the door, grinned, and tackled Mala in a hug. “Mala!” she yelled. “You made it!”

“Uh, yeah.” Mala said, pulling away and standing up. “Didn’t you want me to?”

“Uh, yeah!” Alex grinned. “Come on! We’ve got the Herds already set up, and we were jus’ waiting for you! Let’s go, come on! Oh, hi Ms. Lazuli!”

“Hey.” Lapis waved as Alex dragged Mala off, sending her a grin and a thumbs-up. “Have fun, sweetie.”

“Okay!” Mala replied as they ran off.

“Alex?” Pearl came around the corner, watching the girls run off. “Oh, there she goes.” She turned to Lapis. “Did she even say hi before running off to play horses?”

“Uh, she said hi, at some point.” Lapis then held out a gift bag. “This is for Alex.”

“Oh! Oh you didn’t need to bring anything.” Pearl said, taking the bag as Lapis handed it to her.

“No, it’s fine. Mala picked it out.” Lapis shrugged, then hesitated before asking, “How is everyone?”

“Um, they’re all right here.”  Pearl said. “You can come in, if you want.”

“Um, I’d rather… not.”

“Are you sure?” Pearl asked. “Do you have something to do?”

“No, I was thinking of just, um, going for a walk or something.”

Pearl hesitated. “If you don’t want to, that’s okay, but I think the others would like to see you again.”

Lapis paused, looking carefully at Pearl, before sighing. “It has been a while, hasn’t it?”

 

“You don’t mind if Sardonyx is here, do ya?” Alex asked, said toddler sitting on her lap and eating from a cup of crackers.

Mala shook her head.

“Yeah, the adults just wanted us all to hang out.” Sugi shrugged. “So they can talk or whatever.”

“I don’t think Amethyst wants us to learn any new words from ‘er.” Opal added.

“What do you think, Rainbow?” Alex looked up to see the older girl texting her friend. “ _Rainbow._ ”

“Sorry.” Rainbow groaned. “It’s Jill. She’s tellin me about her new dance studio.”

“Righ’.” Sugi sighed. “Did you bring Water Vision?”

Rainbow held up her white horse, “Yeah. Got ‘er. Did we start the second war yet or not?”

“Second war?” Mala asked.

“REVOLUTION!” Sugi yelled, throwing her horse at Alex’s and knocking it over.

 

“So,” Amethyst said into the silence, “If you cut a hole into a net, aren’t there less holes than there were before?”

“Is this what happens when you don’t get any sleep?” Garnet asked.

“Hey, they totally sprung that surprise essay on me.” Amethyst groaned.

“Yeah, three weeks ago.” Pearl sighed.

“So,” Lapis looked around at the group, her hands cupped around her coffee, “You’re a College Student?”

“Yeah.” Amethyst said. “Same College y’all went to. I’m in my last year, though, finally.”

“Mm-hmm.” Peridot nodded. “And _I_ already graduated!”

“Oh?” Lapis asked. “Funny, I just kind of assumed you hadn’t grown at all since I saw you last.”

“Hey!” Peridot huffed. “I’ll have you know I’ve grown a _lot_ in the last few years! Like, I… I can drive now!”

“Oh?” Lapis raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah! And I… can vote!”

“And in a year,” Amethyst said to Peridot, “You’ll be able to drink!”

“I can drink already.” Peridot stated, before realization hit. “Oh! Oh, you mean… yeah, no thanks.” Amethyst laughed.

“Lapis,” Rose interrupted, “What have _you_ been doing in the last few years?”

“I…” Lapis paused, thinking. “Well, I transferred Colleges, and ended up with Mala, and ended up travelling a lot, working as a lifeguard. … The end.”

“Oh.” Rose said. “Um, okay.”

“How do you think the kids are doing?” Greg asked.

“Probably some _Friendship is Magic_ stuff.” Amethyst shrugged.

 

“I can’t believe you’d betray us like this, Water Spots!” Opal yelled, waving her horse in the air as she spoke.

“It’s for the good of the herds!” Mala called, moving the horse she’d borrowed around the papers the girls had made into a map.

“We have no choice but to fight you!” Alex had her horse announce. “You’re the only one keeping us from the Horse Stone now!”

“Come at us, Grass-hooves!” Sugi yelled.

“Hey, guys, where’d Sardonyx go?” Opal asked.

Rainbow looked up from her phone. “Oh, uh, I think she wanted to go find Pearl?”

“I’ll go get ‘er.” Mala said. “I wanted to use the bathroom anyway.”

“What about Water Spots?” Opal asked.

“Jus’ pretend she’s guarding the top of the mountain now.” Mala said, standing up.

“Okay.” Alex nodded as Mala left, before turning to Sugi’s horses. “Uh, does Rock Heart know that they need the Horse Stone to awaken Human Speaker yet?”

“No, Stepping Stone is the only one in Rock Heart’s forces that knows she’s in trouble.” Sugi replied.

“Which one is Stepping Stone?” Opal asked, holding Stepping Stone in her hand.

 

“Mom?” Mala asked, stepping into the kitchen.

“Oh, hey, Megladon.” Lapis said.

“I didn’t know you were still here.” Mala stated, smiling a little.

“Yeah, Pearl made me talk to her friends.”

“I didn’t _make_ yo-”

“Have you guys seen Sardonyx?” Mala asked. “I think she wandered off during the Battle of the Hill of Hubris.”

“The Battle of-” Rose started her question, before she was interrupted.

“Sardonyx _wandered off_ ?” Pearl asked, looking panicked. “Where did she _go_?”

Lapis sighed. “Don’t worry. Mala wandered off as a toddler all the time, but it always turned out she would just go to the quietest place.”

“I did?”

“Yeah,” Lapis shrugged. “Even when you were little, you always got nervous when something was loud.”

“So you think Sardonyx might’ve gotten uncomfortable?” Garnet asked.

“She might’ve gotten bored.” Mala said. “We gave ‘er Bird Flight to play with but she jus’ tried to eat ‘er, so we had her watch.”

“Oh, so she’d go somewhere interesting?” Amethyst asked.

“Hold on,” Greg said, looking around the group, “Where did _Peridot_ go?”

Pearl paused, before saying, “I think she went to the bathroom. Shouldn’t she be back by no-”

Peridot then ran into the kitchen, trying to pry Sardonyx off of her prosthetic leg, yelling. “Get her _off_ of me!”

“PRRL!” Sardonyx said, playing around with the pieces of metal, laughing as Peridot tried to swing her off.

“ _I’m not Pearl, you tiny clod_!”

“Oh my gosh, she still uses the word ‘clod.’” Lapis said to herself, almost in disbelief, as Pearl and Garnet ran up to try and calm her down.

“Peridot, chill, it’s just Sardonyx.” Garnet said, putting a hand on Peridot’s shoulder to steady her, as Sardonyx started to gnaw on the edge of the leg and Peridot looked like she might topple over.

“I know _that_ !” Peridot yelled, as Pearl started to pry Sardonyx off. “But when I came out of the restroom she grabbed my leg and now she won’t _get off_!”

“Mommy!” Sardonyx cheered, looking up at Pearl as she tried to get her to let go.

“Y-yeah, it’s me, Sard, please let go of Peridot’s leg now.” Pearl said.

Garnet held up a hand to pause them, and leaned down to Sardonyx’s eye level.

“Hey, Sardonyx, if you let go of Peridot’s leg, I’ll let you have cake when my parents get here with it.”

“Are you _serious_ , Garnet, that’s not going to-” Pearl began.

“Garnet!” Sardonyx said, holding up her arms and allowing her to pick her up.

“...You’ve _got_ to be kidding me.” Pearl blinked up at them, while Peridot muttered to herself and bent over to make sure she hadn’t broken anything in her leg.

“Yeah,” Garnet said, as Sardonyx started to look around the kitchen, “And now we have to give her cake.”

“Your leg is really cool.” Mala said to Peridot as she straightened herself up.

“It is, isn’t it?” Peridot said, still looking very annoyed. “I built it myself. It’s how I got into College so early.”

“You’ve had the same leg since you were in College?” Mala asked.

Peridot scoffed. “Well, _obviously_ I made some adjustments since then. Because I _grew_ . _So_ much.”

Sardonyx looked down at Mala, smiling brightly. “Prrl!”

“Why does she think my daughter is you?” Lapis asked Pearl, as Pearl got to her feet.

“Oh, she pretty much calls anyone who isn’t Garnet or Amethyst ‘Pearl’.” Pearl explained. “Except Alex is ‘Garnet’ and Sugi is ‘Ame’, and on occasion Ruby or Sapphire is ‘Garnet’, too.”

“Oh, so I guess I’m ‘Pearl’ then, too.” Lapis smirked, as Garnet sat back down.

Sardonyx looked at her curiously, before grinning wide and exclaiming, “ _Bob_!”

Amethyst started laughing again, while everyone else looked in confusedly.

Pearl eventually said, “She doesn’t even _know_ anyone named Bob.”

“Prrl?” Sardonyx asked, looking back at, this time, the correctly named person.

“Um, so, where is the bathroom?” Mala asked.

“You actually walked by it on your way here.” Amethyst explained. “You know the girls’ room? It’s inbetween that and the office.”

“Where’s the office?” Mala asked.

“I’ll show you.” Greg offered. “You guys can catch up on Old College Friends stuff or whatever.”

As he stood up to show Mala where to go, Rose turned to Lapis. “So, have you talked to anyone else from school since you transferred?”

“Uh, no…” Lapis said. “How is everyone else?”

“Well, Nephrite eventually started leaving us alone, which was nice.” Rose shrugged. “Bismuth’s an architect now-”

“And _I_ graduated because _I_ grew up!” Peridot added bitterly.

“Oh,” Rose said, “And Jas-”

“I actually don’t care what happened to her.” Lapis said, her expression shifting from mild curiosity to a very blank look.

“You and me both.” Amethyst said, and Lapis high-fived her.

“Are you su-” Rose began.

“Oh, and guess what?” Pearl interrupted. “Peridot actually got our art teacher to resign!”

“Really? We’d been trying to do that _all_ year!” Lapis cheered. “How’d you finally do it?”

“Well,” Peridot sat down, looking very proud of herself. “I left my art project in the dorm one day, and I knew she wouldn’t let me go back to get it, so I slapped some stickers on my leg and told her that was my project.”

“Wait,” Lapis thought back, “Didn’t we never tell her your leg was prosthetic?”

“Well, up til then.” Peridot shrugged, smirking, “Because when she told me my leg couldn’t be my project, I took it off and threw it at her.”

“And that’s when she quit.” Garnet stated. “She left the next morning.”

“I had never seen someone fill out a resignation so quickly.” Pearl said.

Lapis smiled and put her hand on Peridot’s shoulder. “You upheld our legacy well.”

Peridot blushed and started stuttering.

“So, how was your new College?” Rose asked, looking back to Lapis.

“Well, I didn’t get any teachers to resign, but I think I got pretty close.” Lapis shrugged.

“What College did you go to?” Amethyst asked.

Lapis blinked. “Um, I dunno.”

“What?” Pearl raised an eyebrow.

“I mean Ocean Town.”

“Ocean Town?” Amethyst asked. “Didn’t that blow up?”

“No,” Lapis said, her expression blank. “It set on fire.” After a second, “It wasn’t me if that’s what you’re thinking.”

Greg then walked back in. “Okay, so we actually got _lost_ on the way to the bathroom, but we got there eventually.”

“It’s literally right there.” Pearl said, gesturing.

“Um, is Mala still there?” Lapis asked.

“Yeah.”

“Is she gonna get lost again?”

Greg considered. “I can go back.”

“No, I’ll find it.” Lapis sighed, standing up. “Be right back. Peridot, don’t put anything in my coffee.”

“I would _never_ -” Peridot protested.

“Don’t lie Peridot, I’ve known it was you for years.” Lapis stated. She then turned to the others. “Amethyst, don’t put anything in my coffee either.”

“Wow, you figured out my personality fast.”

“No, I just saw you put something in Pearl’s.”

“ _What_?”

Lapis blinked. “That was a joke.”

As she left, Peridot turned to the others. “I just wanted to cheer her up.”

“Did you seriously think glitter in coffee would cheer her up?” Garnet asked.

“I was an _art_ student, I didn’t know what else to do!”

“You guys must have been _wild_ in College.” Greg sighed, sitting down.

“You didn’t miss out on _that_ much.” Rose shrugged. “Remember when we broke into the-”

“ _Not_ in front of Sardonyx.” Pearl said, pushing her coffee away from herself. “I don’t want her to think that illegal activity is okay.”

“Bubbles!” Sardonyx yelled, pointing down at another cup of coffee.

“I don’t think she can process things like that.” Peridot said. “But I _do_ remember pushing Greg off of a roof.”

“And I remember stopping you.” Garnet added.

“Why _did_ you do that?” Greg asked.

“I thought you were an alien.” Peridot admitted. “But now I’m at least 90% sure you’re a human.”

Lapis then walked back. “Okay. Mala’s playing with her friends now.”

“Oh.” Amethyst asked. “They still alive?”

Lapis considered. “I think they’re trying to ritually sacrifice their horses.”

“Oh, good, they’re okay.” Garnet sighed, checking her phone for texts.

 

“Good, your Mom’s gone, now we can talk.” Alex said, dropping her horses.

“So we _aren’t_ sacrificing Peach Flower to the Striped Herd?” Mala asked, confused.

“Oh, no, we are,” Sugi assured her, “But first, we have an idea!”

 

Several minutes later, Pearl walked in to the girls’ room, saying, “Alright, Ruby and Sapphire are here with the cake, do you girls… girls?”

Nobody was there. “Girls? Alex? Opal? Sugi?” Pearl started to panic. “Mala? Oh no! Garnet, the girls-”

Suddenly, they jumped out from behind Alex’s bed, tackling her. “Surprise!” they yelled, laughing.

Pearl was shocked for a second, before letting out a nervous giggle. “Heh, um, wow! I was _totally_ surprised… why did you do that, though?”

“Rainbow said that’s what you _do_ at parties!” Alex explained.

“... did she?” Pearl asked, remembering how Rainbow _had_ come out earlier and asked her to get the others.

“Yeah.” Opal grinned. “Did you surprised?”

“ _Was_ I surprised, and yes, I was.” Pearl nodded. “Now, who wants cake?”

“We get _cake_?”


	15. Stranded

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So when I started writing this chapter I noticed it was getting way too similar to "Bismuth" so I swapped POV halfway through. I hope it doesn't bug you that they never said how they killed the spider.

Chapter Fifteen

 

“Checkmate!” Opal yelled. 

“We’re playing Solitaire.” Amethyst reminded her. 

“Oh.” Opal blinked. “Is it Pearl’s turn?”

“Uh, Pearl’s busy.” Amethyst said. 

They looked towards the kitchen, where Pearl was pacing and talking on the phone. “Yes, I  _ know  _ you’re in South America, but can you get here in an hour?”

“Wha’s she doin’?” Sugi asked. 

“She’s tryin’ to get you guys a babysitter.” Amethyst shrugged, balancing Sardonyx on her lap. 

“Why?” Opal asked.

Alex smirked. “Because she and Amethyst are  _ GOING ON A DATE _ !”

Once Alex shouted that, Pearl jumped and dropped her phone, and Amethyst let out a yell and dropped her cards, scrambling to pick them up. Sugi and Alex started to laugh, Sardonyx started to gnaw on one of Amethyst’s cards, and Opal let out an excited squeal. “They  _ are _ ?” 

“N-no!” Pearl said, after telling the person on the phone to hold on. “No, we’re not going on a  _ date _ .”

“Well, then, what are you doing?” Sugi asked. 

“I need help with a project and Pearl’s the only one who can get me in undetected.” Amethyst shrugged. 

“ _ You’re not supposed to put it like that. _ ” Pearl groaned, before saying a goodbye to the person on her phone and hanging up. “The thing is,  _ I’m  _ a member and  _ you _ ’re not, but I can bring guests.”

“So it  _ is  _ a date!” Opal yelled. 

Amethyst mimed puking, and Pearl started blushing. “N-no. Anyway, we might not be  _ able  _ to go, because I can’t find a babysitter! I can  _ never  _ find a babysitter! Bismuth is travelling and Rose is taking Rainbow to visit her Aunt and Uncle and when I asked Peridot she just screamed and hung up…”

“Hey, you know who  _ is  _ in town?” Amethyst said. 

“And I’m a little scared to ask Lapis bec...” Pearl trailed off once Amethyst’s words sunk in. “No.”

“Come on, Pearl, you don’t have any other friends.” Amethyst teased, and Alex and Sugi “ooed”. 

Pearl sighed, and dialed a number on her phone, giving Amethyst a death glare. She then started speaking. “Greg. I need your help.”

Pause. “Yes, I know.  _ I  _ need  _ your  _ help, ha ha. I know it’s not funny, Greg, I was being sarcastic.”

Opal then slammed a card on the floor. “It was Colonel Mustard in the Bell Tower with the Hammer!”

They glanced at her. “Clue doesn’t even have a hammer.” Alex said. 

“I don’t think it has a bell tower.” Amethyst added. 

“No, but it definitely has a hammer.” Opal shrugged. 

“I don’t think it does.” Alex shook her head. 

“Hammer!” Sardonyx yelled, throwing her card into the air. 

“It has a hammer if you wish hard enough.” Sugi shrugged. 

Opal shut her eyes hard and cupped her hands together, as if in prayer, squeezing them tight. “I wish, I wish,  _ I wish _ for a hammer!”

“I’m googling it.” Amethyst pulled out her phone and held it above Sardonyx’s head, typing quickly. 

“ _ Amethyst _ ,” Pearl called from the kitchen, “Get off your phone.”

“I’m trying to educate your daughters!” Amethyst yelled, before looking down. “Okay, so it looks like they change it all the time, but I don’t think they’ve had a hammer. They  _ have  _ had a wrench, though.”

“Close enough!” Opal yelled, unclenching her hands and wringing them out, then looked over. “Sugi, are those my cards?”

 

“Garnet will be home before us,” Pearl added. “She knows you’re here, so she hopefully won’t freak out. Sardonyx should be fine, though she’s started to cry when we leave, but she’s playing so she’ll be distracted.”

“Pearl, this’ll be fine.” Greg shrugged. “I’ve watched Rainbow before, and Sour Cream.”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m worried.” Pearl said. “Just… just make sure Sardonyx doesn’t climb a ferris wheel.”

“Um,  _ that _ one wasn’t my fault.”

“Kinda was.” Pearl said. 

“Yo, P! Let’s  _ go _ !” Amethyst yelled from the hallway, before turning to the girls. “Now, we’ll be  _ right back _ , okay?”

They nodded. 

“Alright, see later, love ya, bye!” Amethyst yelled, grabbing Pearl’s hand and dragging her out. 

Pearl called back, “Remember, bedtime’s at eight, don’t go in Amethyst’s room, no movie that’s rated above PG, and make sure Sardonyx doesn’t eat the flowers!”

“Mommy?” Sardonyx asked, wobbling out into the hallway just as the door slammed. 

“Oh, oh no.” Greg said as Sardonyx, looking heartbroken, started to cry. 

 

“Are you sure we’re  _ stranded _ ?” Amethyst asked again. 

Pearl sighed, looking up at the sky, holding up her phone. “I’m trying to get a signal so I can call Garnet or… or Greg, but we’re really deep in the valley.”

“I can’t believe we got hit by a deer.” Amethyst sighed, flopping down on the ground. “Isn’t it usually the other way around?”

“Shut  _ up _ .” Pearl groaned, dialing Garnet again. “Whatever happened, our car is busted, and we’re pretty much out of gas.”

“Well, at least I got the info I needed.” Amethyst said. “Sorry we can’t go back, by the way.”

“Did you have to  _ swear  _ at-” Pearl cut herself off, sitting down. “It’s useless. We’re not going to get a signal unless we start walking.”

“We  _ can’t _ ,” Amethyst sighed. “It’s all uphill, all street. A car comes at us, we won’t be able to get away unless we want to fall into a friggin river.”

“We can’t be  _ stuck _ !” Pearl groaned, tapping at her phone again. “Next you’re gonna say it’ll rain!”

Thunder clapped. 

“You have got to be kidding me.” Pearl moaned, dragging her hands through her hair. 

“We’ll just wait for a car, hitch a ride, and hope it’s not a serial killer.” Amethyst said. 

“Oh, I hope the girls don’t get worried.”

“We aren’t supposed to be home for another two hours.” Amethyst assured her. 

“Yes, but, we’ll have to get out of here first, and then we’ll have to call a tow truck, or…”

“Or, we can call Garnet, and get her to bring us gas!” Amethyst suggested. 

“Our car was  _ dented  _ by a friggin  _ deer _ , and who knows if anyone’s even coming this way!” Pearl yelled. 

They paused, before Amethyst asked, “So, if you have breakfast for dinner one day…”

“I’m not in the mood.” Pearl interrupted. 

“No, seriously, I need to know this.”

“I don’t want another one of your ‘up-late-studying’ rambles.”

“But-”

“Not one word.”

Silence. Then, “Fergalicious.”

“ _ Amethyst _ .”

“Oh, so when we’re playing  _ Scrabble _ …”

“Hold on, there’s a car.” Pearl said, looking as it came closer, her eyes widening in surprise. “No  _ way _ .”

“Is that  _ Rose _ ?” Amethyst asked. 

Pearl waved, as Rose’s car pulled into a stop. “Pearl? Amethyst? What are you two doing out here?” 

“We got hit by a deer!” Amethyst exclaimed. 

“And Amethyst got us kicked out of- nevermind, what are you doing here?” Pearl looked up at Rose. “Weren’t you supposed to be visiting Rainbow’s Aunt and Uncle all day?”

“Well, things happened.” Rose shrugged. “Hop in, I can get you to the top of hill. Reception is  _ awful _ down here.”

“Thanks!” Pearl said, climbing in the front seat while Amethyst climbed in the back with Rainbow, giving the girl a high-five as she did. 

“So, how were your Aunt and Uncle, kiddo?” Amethyst asked.

“Awful.” Rainbow groaned, looking up from her book. “I tried to show them my dance routine and they just pointed out everything that I did wrong.”

“Oh, that sucks.” Amethyst sighed. 

“It does.” Pearl added. “I’m sure you were great Rainbow.”

“Yeah, I  _ was _ , that’s why I’m mad.” Rainbow crossed her arms in a huff. 

“They  _ did _ like to nitpick.” Rose admitted. “I don’t think either of them were dancers, either.”

“Why do they even want custody?” Rainbow asked. “They’re just gonna be mad at me all day.” 

“There are probably several reasons, Rainbow.” Rose told her. “They just… weren’t apparent.”

“They wouldn’t even call me Rainbow. Kept callin’ me  _ Iris _ , and said Rainbow was a dumb name. Iris is a dumb name.” Rainbow said. 

“Iris is a great name, and so is Rainbow.” Pearl said. 

“Hey, where are the girls?” Rose asked. “Isn’t Garnet working today?”

“Oh,  _ Greg _ ’s watching them.” Amethyst snickered. 

“He  _ is _ ?” Rose seemed very happy at that, while Rainbow just sighed and went back to her book. 

“Y-yes.” Pearl stammered, staring pointedly out the window. 

“Oh, that’s good!” Rose beamed. “We’ve really gotten a lot better at taking care of kids since… the incident.”

“What incident?” Rainbow asked, interested again. 

“Nothing  _ much _ .” Rose glanced out the window. 

“They sort of destroyed a ferris wheel,” Amethyst whispered, “Because Rose didn’t know how babies worked.”

“It’s not that I didn’t  _ know  _ how they work,” Rose sighed, “It’s just that I was very sheltered and, um, forgot that they couldn’t survive high falls.”

“Well, thank goodness Vidalia still doesn’t know,” Amethyst shrugged, “Or else she wouldn’t let me hang out with her again.”

“I’ve got a signal!” Pearl said, as they reached the top of the hill, then looked a little wary. “Um, there are a few missed calls from Greg.”

“What?” Rose and Amethyst both asked. 

“Oh, he sent me a text.” Pearl added hastily, reading, “They… they went to the park? Something about Sardonyx needing fresh air?”

“Oh, that’s not too bad.” Amethyst sighed. “I assumed someone  _ died _ .”

“That would’ve been exciting!” Rainbow said. 

“ _ No _ , that would have been  _ bad _ .” Pearl sighed. 

“I can drive you there now before you call the towtruck.” Rose offered. “It’s not too far.”

“Um, alright.” Pearl sighed. “I mean, what trouble could they have possibly gotten into at the park?”

 

“ _ What on Earth happened here _ ?”

They climbed out of the car, to see the park on fire. Rose told Rainbow to wait in the car, and then led the others to a non-burned area, where people were starting to gather. Pearl started trying to call Greg, shaking as she typed the numbers, until Amethyst pointed out their group towards the edge of the crowd. The three ran to them, and Pearl jumped towards her girls, asking quickly what had happened, had any of them inhaled smoke, were there any medical emergencies? After she’d calmed, the girls and Greg looked to each other. Sardonyx looked like she’d only recently stopped crying, and held out her arms to be picked up by Pearl, seemingly excited by the whole ordeal. The others paused, trying to think of what exactly  _ had  _ just happened. 

“Um,” Greg considered, “Technically it wasn’t our fault.”

“What  _ happened _ ?” Pearl asked again, looking extremely worried. 

Another pause. Then Opal, sounding very proud, said, “We killed the spider.”


	16. Go to Sleep

Chapter Sixteen

 

“And then the woman told us to make Sard stop cryin’,” Opal babbled, “And we told her, ‘there’s nothing we can do’, but the dog started to scare Sard, and Sugi saw a spider, and so we tried to kill it, but that’s when the black car came up and started making loud noises!”

“Wow, you remembered so much!” Garnet congratulated, as Opal crawled into bed. 

“Yeah, cause it all happened really fast!” Opal said. “I remembered it  _ and _ we killed the spider!”

“Did the spider die before or after the fire started?” Amethyst asked, helping Sugi put her hair up before bed. 

“Uh, I dunno? But it died!” Opal added. 

“Interesting.” Pearl sighed. “Well, the Police said they caught the arsonists, who might be connected to some sort of international crime circuit?”

“Yeah, and they also made loud noises.” Opal added, making a popping sound with her mouth. “And Sard stopped crying when she saw the fire. She thought it was pretty.”

“Pretty!” Sardonyx repeated, sitting on the floor and coloring in a book, grinning up at the others. “Pretty colors!”

“Okay, sweetie, you need to sleep now.” Pearl said, picking the girl up. “You can finish coloring tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow!” Sardonyx was starting to pick up lots of words lately. 

“Yes, and we have to sleep tonight.” Pearl added. “Goodnight, girls.”

“Pearl?” Alex asked, looking up from her bed in the corner. 

“Yes, Alex?” Pearl asked, turning around and sitting next to the girl, as Sardonyx started to fall asleep. 

“I’ve been thinking-”

“About the fire?”

“No, that was fun. Before that, remember Rainbow’s performance?”

“ _ Little Mermaid _ ?”

“Yeah, an’ you said that she wasn’t a Universe because she wasn’t adopted yet?”

“Yeah?”

Alex paused, before asking, “So, do we have your last name yet?”

Pearl paused, before stuttering, “W-well not  _ yet _ , but we’re still going through the legal process of… of things, and there are things that still need to be addressed, but-”

“But we’ll have it soon?” Alex asked. 

“Um, yes? I think so. If, if you want.” Pearl said. 

“So, like,  _ how  _ soon?” Alex questioned, “Because I’ve been ‘ntroducing myself and writin’ my name with your last name for a while now and I don’t want people to get confused.” 

Pearl let out a little laugh. “Pretty soon, I think. Okay?”

“Okay.” Alex nodded, pleased with that answer. 

“Can I have your last name too?” Opal asked. 

“Uh, duh. She adopted  _ all  _ of us.” Sugi rolled her eyes. 

“She didn’t adopt Garnet and Amethyst.” Opal pointed out, which made the two specified laugh. 

“Alright, now you  _ really _ need to sleep.” Pearl said, standing to her feet, pleased to see that Sardonyx had already fallen asleep. “Goodnight.”

 

“So, how far  _ are  _ you in getting the girls legally adopted?” Amethyst asked, as she cleaned up a little. 

“Pretty close, I think.” Pearl said. “We’re only fostering them right now, but I’ve been trying to get the legal adoption forms in.”

“Oh, we’re fostering them?” Amethyst asked sarcastically. “I just assumed you kidnapped them and brought them back with you.”

“Now, if I did  _ that _ , then I definitely wouldn’t be able to adopt them.” Pearl groaned, sitting on the couch with a cup of tea. “But the thing is, they have to make sure no other family members have legal rights. Sardonyx is pretty open-and-shut, but they think Opal’s dad left the country, and Sugilite has an extended family on her Mom’s side, but given that she was technically disowned before Sugi sas even born…”

“Why did Opal’s dad leave the country?” Garnet asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“I’m not told  _ that _ much.” Pearl sighed. “But I think it had something to do with embezzlement? Or maybe it was a hostage situation…”

“What about Alex’s family?” Amethyst asked, looking back to her. 

“They… well, from what I do know, they  _ did _ all live on a farm, but then it turned out they were all in the Mafia.”

“ _ All _ of them?” Amethyst snorted. “Come on, P, they can’t  _ all _ …”

Pearl turned to her, a look of dead seriousness on her face. “All of them.”

“Oh.”

Pearl thought for a second, then said, “Oh! Yeah! I almost forgot, I-”

“Wait.” Garnet said, listening. 

After a second, the sound of footsteps came down the hall. They looked up to see Opal walk down, who then stopped and looked surprised to see them sitting in the Living Room. 

“Opal?” Pearl asked. “Shouldn’t you be in bed?”

Opal blinked, thinking, before shrugging. “Yeah. I guess.”

“Is something wrong?” Garnet asked, a little worried. 

“I’m not tired.” Opal said. 

“Well, you did just have a lot of excitement happen all at once.” Amethyst suggested. “It’s a bit hard to fall asleep after that.”

“Can you tell me a story?” Opal asked, running up and sitting next to Pearl. 

“Um… um, sure?” Pearl stuttered. “A-about what?”

Opal thought. “I dunno.”

“Tell her about-” Amethyst began. 

“I know  _ exactly  _ what you’re going to say,” Garnet interrupted. “And we are  _ not  _ telling Opal about that.”

“Bout what?” Opal asked. 

“You know,” Pearl said, “Why don’t we just get a picture book and read from that?”

“Why?” Opal cocked her head to the side. “I’ve gotta go ta bed.”

“Um, yes, you do!” Pearl nodded. “Here, let’s get you back to your room.”

“Kay.” Opal said, grabbing Pearl’s hand as she walked her down. “When’s Amethyst done with school?”

“Really soon, actually.” Pearl whispered. “If you want, we can go get her a Graduation Present tomorrow. I can ask Peridot if she wants to come.”

“Can Ms. Peridot bring the cool movie?” Opal asked, looking excited. 

“Um, that might be a little hard to watch while shopping.” Pearl said. “But maybe we can come back here and watch it later.”

“Yay!” Opal cheered, as she made it to her bedroom door. “Goodnight, Pearl!”

“Goodnight!” Pearl called, as she turned and walked back, making it back to the Living Room. “Alright, where were w- Sugilite what are you doing here?”

Sugilite looked up from the floor, seated next to Amethyst, and yelled, “Feed me peasant!”

Pearl let out a startled gasp, which quickly turned into an angry yell when Amethyst doubled over in laughter. “ _ Amethyst! _ Did you make her say that?”

Amethyst shook her head, still in hysterics. “N-no…  _ Garnet  _ did!”

Pearl shot a glare at Garnet, who was trying and failing to look serious. “I… I thought it would be funny.”

Pearl sighed and turned back to Sugilite. “Why are you awake?”

“I want food!” Sugilite complained. 

“You need to go to bed.” Pearl explained, shooting Amethyst and Garnet a glare. 

“But I’m  _ hungry _ !”

“Listen, Sugi,” Pearl offered, “If you go to bed, tomorrow I’ll make pancakes for Breakfast.”

Sugilite considered. “Can I have  _ double  _ pancakes?”

“Okay.” Pearl nodded. “I can walk you back to your room.”

“Okay.” Sugi nodded, standing up, then pausing to think. “Can we have  _ chocolate chip  _ pancakes?”

“Come on,” Pearl sighed, though she couldn’t help cracking a smile. 

“I’m gonna hold you to that,” Sugi said, clearly repeating something she’d heard Garnet or Amethyst say, but looking very proud of herself for remembering how to say it. 

“I’m sure you will.” Pearl giggled, walking Sugi back. “Do you want a glass of water or something?”

“No, I want double chocolate chip pancakes in the morning!” Sugi said. 

“Alright,” Pearl nodded. “I can do that. Do you want to go shopping tomorrow, too?”

Sugi considered. “For what?”

“For Amethyst.”

“But we already have one, we don’t need another.”

Pearl laughed. “No, to get her a Graduation Present.”

“Oh. Okay, fine.” Sugi sighed. “Can we go look at the snakes at the pet store?”

“That’s not near where we’re going, but maybe on the way home?” Pearl said. 

“I’ll take wha’ I can get.” Sugi shrugged as they reached her room. “Night, Pearl!”

“Goodnight, Sugi.” 

Pearl turned back again, walking to the Living Room. “So as I was saying, I…” she then slapped her forehead. “Alex, are you  _ serious _ ?”

Alex was sitting next to Garnet on the couch. “I’m not tired,” she simply stated, crossing her arms and leaning back on the cushion. 

“Look, it’s 10:00 at night.” Pearl said, gesturing to the clock. “You need to go to sleep.”

“You’re not asleep.” Alex pointed out. 

“Oh!” Amethyst laughed. 

Pearl shot her a glare, before turning back to Alex. “Well, I’m an adult, so I’m allowed to make bad decisions about my life if I want.”

“That doesn’t seem logical.” Alex said.

“Come on, you’ve gotta go to bed.” Pearl said, walking forward. “I can walk you back, but you  _ need _ to stay there and  _ go to sleep _ .”

“I’ll walk ‘er back.” Garnet offered. “You’ve been back-and-forth twice already.” 

“Why?” Alex asked. “Does she just like to do that?”

“Sugi and Opal snuck out, too.” Amethyst said. “Didn’t you hear them go out and then back in?”

“I was in the bathroom.” Alex shrugged.

“Why are you all so awake tonight?” Pearl asked as Alex jumped up to follow Garnet back to bed.

“Today was so cool!” Alex explained. “An’ I just wanna stay up and do more cool things!”

“See, it’s the adrenaline rush.” Amethyst shrugged. “Happened to me for like a week after-”

“Say goodnight, Alex.” Garnet said, as she started walking with her back to her room.

“Night!” Alex called, running after the taller woman.

Pearl sat down on the couch and groaned, putting her head in her hands. “I’m never letting them go to the park again.”

“Well, it won’t be open again for quite a while, so that’s probably a good idea.” Amethyst said. “What were you gonna tell us?”

“Well…”

That’s when Sardonyx started crying. Pearl screamed into a pillow before getting up to go and get her.

When she came back, carrying Sardonyx, who was slowly calming and going back to sleep, Garnet and Amethyst glanced up at her. “Okay, so, you were saying?” Garnet continued. 

“Alright…” Pearl sighed. “As I was saying, I was going to take the girls out shopping tomorrow, and-”

“I can’t go.” Amethyst interrupted, “I have finals.”

“Um, yes.” Pearl nodded. “So I’ll just… take Garnet… is there anything you want us to pick up?”

“Chips. And the answer key to all my tests.”

“I will make an attempt.”

Amethyst giggled, playing with her hair. “Once I’m out of College, I’m officially an adult, aren’t I?”

“You’re already an adult.” Garnet said. 

“Naw,” Amethyst sighed, “I’m not gonna grow up. At least I won’t get any taller, right?” She paused, looking over towards the hall. “And I’m not the only one who isn’t gonna grow up any time soon.”

Pearl followed her gaze, and let out a small groan as Opal looked up from the hall. “What are you doing out of bed again?”

Opal blinked, puzzled. “Again?”


	17. Peridot is Put in Charge of Children

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay for the next few chapters the plot will be decided by me rolling dice to see who interacts. This should be fun.

Chapter Seventeen

 

“I hate shopping and I hate you.”

Pearl sighed. “Honestly, Peridot, sometimes you’re worse than the girls.”

“We’re not bad!” Sugi protested. “We’re  _ wicked _ !”

Peridot groaned. “Please tell me 90’s slang isn’t making a comeback!”

“No, it’s like Elphie.” Sugi explained. 

Peridot blinked. “The Will Ferrell movie?”

“No, like  _ Wicked _ !” Alex explained, pulling another stuffed bear off of the shelf. 

Their shopping trip had taken an unexpected detour when Opal begged to go in the toy aisle. Alex was convinced she could find something for Amethyst, while Sugi was just upset they didn’t have as much Dragon Army figures. Pearl was wondering if she could steer them off to a Video Game aisle or something, but Peridot’s complaints weren’t being any help.

“Hold on,” Garnet asked, looking back from the dolls Opal was showing her, “How do  _ you  _ know that movie?”

“Why would she  _ not _ ?” Sugi asked. 

“Didn’t I tell you?” Peridot raised an eyebrow, sighing. “Lazuli made me watch that movie every day during College leading up to Christmas.”

“Oh, nice. Now as I wa-” Pearl began. 

“No,” Peridot cut her off, looking grim, “I mean  _ every  _ day. Starting in November. Once Halloween was over, the Christmas stuff came in. And it was that movie. Every day. Every single day. I still have it memorized.”

The adults didn’t know how to respond. Opal, did, though. “Tha’s cool!”

Peridot sighed. “Sure, whatever.”

“Why don’t we go look somewhere else?” Pearl asked, shepherding the kids down to another aisle. There had to be  _ something _ Amethyst liked, right?

“Pearl?” Garnet whispered, as the girls stopped at a doll display, gesturing off to the side, “Is that who I think it is?”

Pearl turned to look, letting out a slight gasp. “Oh my gosh. I think that’s Nephrite?”

“Lapis was right, it is a College Reunion Town.” Garnet laughed. 

“Oh, I hated her so much at school.” Pearl said. 

“Wanna go talk to her?” Garnet asked. 

“Yes.” Pearl nodded, smirking. “I wanna try Lapis’s vague passive-aggression on her.” she paused. “Oh, but what about the girls?”

Garnet considered, then turned to Peridot. “Um, Peridot?”

“What?” she asked, glaring at them. 

“Pearl and I are gonna go… make out. Wait, that came out wrong.”

Peridot screeched, her eyes widening in shock, while Pearl started blushing. The girls looked up. “Wha’s that?” Alex asked. 

“It’s that stuff Amethyst put on our faces once.” Sugi said, rolling her eyes. 

“That’s… make-up.” Pearl corrected, biting her lip and staring at the ground. 

“Yes. And… that’s what I meant.” Garnet said. “We’re gonna go look at the make-up aisle. Can you watch the girls?”

“Watch them?” Peridot asked, looking horrified. 

“Great, thanks!” Pearl grinned. Garnet then walked over, plopped Sardonyx in Peridot’s arms, and walked off with Pearl. 

“Why can’t we go?” Opal asked. 

“Didn’t you spill Ame’s make-up?” Alex raised an eyebrow. 

Opal thought. “Maybe. Wasn’t that Sugi?”

“I wish.”

“Ms. Peridot, can you take us to the books?” Alex requested, turning around. “...Ms. Peridot?”

Peridot was frozen, still holding Sardonyx in the same position Garnet had placed her in, the toddler giggling and trying to grab something in the air.

“Ms. Peridot, you gotta ‘support her neck’, like Pearl said.” Alex sighed, walking up and showing her with one of the display dolls. “See?”

Peridot was still frozen. 

Alex sighed. “Do you want me to hold Sard?”

Peridot slowly put the girl on the ground, and Alex tried to pick her up. When she failed, she simply grabbed Sardonyx’s hand. “Don’t run off.”

“Um…” Peridot looked down at the kids, who were staring up at her. “Wh-what do you wanna do?”

“Let’s burn the place down!” Sugi muttered, grinning. 

“Um, no?” Peridot said. “Uh, you’ve had babysitters before, right?”

“Ms. Bismuth and Mr. Greg.”

“Yeah. What did you do with them?”

They thought. Finally, Opal answered, “Well, Ms. Bismuth watched TV with us. And Mr. Greg took us to the park!”

“The one that burnt down?”

“That was fun.”

Peridot laughed nervously, looking around as if someone would show up to help her. “Well, um, why don’t we… go? Do something?”

“Let’s eat food!” Opal suggested. 

“Ah, yes, that’s something I can do.” Peridot said, looking a little relieved. “Which way is the food court?”

“We don’t need a court,” Opal giggled, “We can jus’ eat it off the ground.”

“What?”

“Yeah! Let’s find some!” Sugi cheered. 

“Uh, no, no, no!” Peridot said. “The bacteria and viruses on this disgusting floor will definitely cling to and infect anything dropped upon it!”

They stared at her. “Eh?” Opal tilted her head to the side. 

“Food Court it is!” Peridot said, turning and walking off. 

“Isn’t it that way?” Alex asked, pointing in the opposite direction. 

“I knew that!”

 

“We’re lost.” Sugi said for the fifth time. 

“We are  _ not  _ lost,” Peridot groaned, dragging them through an aisle full of things that looked suspiciously like dog toys, “We just misplaced any directories.”

“Lost!” Sardonyx repeated, toddling along, gripping onto Alex’s hand. “Lost! Lost! Lost!”

“Ugh, shut up!” Peridot yelled, clamping her hands against her ears. “How can such a tiny thing be so  _ loud _ ?”

“I CAN BE LOUDER!” Opal demonstrated, making Peridot shriek. “Oh! You’re the loudest!”

“Yay, Ms. Peridot!” Alex clapped. 

“Do it again!” Sugi cheered. 

“No!” Peridot groaned, slapping her forehead. “Why did they put  _ me  _ in charge of you! I don’t know how kids work!”

“Oh! I know this!” Sugi said. “We’ve got blood cells pumped through the heart-”

“I  _ know  _ the science of it,” Peridot explained. “I just don’t know what you guys  _ do _ . Your brains still don’t factor in logic.”

“Amethyst says your brain doesn’t do that either.” Alex reported, grabbing Sardonyx’s hand as she tried to wander off. 

“Oh, did she?” Peridot asked, her voice raising. “Well I’ll have you know that I found  _ undeniable-  _ wait.”

“Wait for what?” Sugi raised an eyebrow. 

Peridot did a quick head count. “Weren’t there four of you?”

Alex looked around. “Huh. Opal’s gone again.”

“WHAT?” Peridot screamed, frantically looking around. “PEARL’S GOING TO KILL ME!”

“She hasn’t killed anyone yet.” Alex proudly reported. 

“Are we sure ‘bout that?” Sugi asked. 

“Prrl?” Sardonyx looked around, noticing that someone was gone. “ _ Prrl _ ?”

“Oh no, she’s gonna cry ‘gain.” Sugi shrugged. 

“No, no, no! Don’t cry, um, look!” Peridot grabbed a random toy off the shelf, which happened to be a bow tie that squeaked. “Look! It makes noise! That kind of thing seems to delight infants!”

Sardonyx started crying.

“Oh, give her this.” Peridot thrust the toy at Alex. “We need to find your sister. Where would she have gone?”

They shrugged. 

“Okay,” Peridot continued, “Has she done this before?”

“Yeah.” 

“Who found her then?” 

Sugi thought. “It was Ms. Lapis, right?”

“Okay, I’ll call Lazuli!” Peridot said, pulling out her phone. “Ugh, no service! Where  _ are  _ we?”

“Dead!” Sugi suggested. 

“You know what, this  _ could  _ very well be hell.” Peridot thought aloud. 

“Nu-uh.” Alex shook her head. “Hell people have pointy sticks.”

“I wanna pointy stick!” Sugi announced. 

“I don’t have time for this!” Peridot yelled, leaning over towards the sobbing Sardonyx, who was now clutching to the bowtie. “Alexandrite, Sugilite, we’ve gotta go find your sister. How do we transport this one?”

“Uh, she likes being held.” Sugi said, thinking. 

“She likes your leg!” Alex reminded her. 

Peridot considered. “Huh. Hey, small child, remember that time you ambushed me at your sister’s social gathering?”

“I had one of those?” Alex asked. 

When Sardonyx kept crying, Peridot sighed and lifted up her pant leg, showing her the metal covering. “See? This? It’s shiny, right?”

Sardonyx calmed a little, wiping her nose on her sleeve and then reaching out to touch the metal. 

“Yeah, it’s pretty!” Peridot nodded. “You wanna grab onto it?”

Sardonyx paused, before wrapping her arms around the leg and leaning against it. 

“Ugh, thank you.” Peridot groaned. “Alexandrite, make sure your sister doesn’t fall off. Sugilite, where would Opal go?”

“I dunno.”

“Think!”

“Opal doesn’t think.”

“Alright, then we wander aimlessly. Onwards!”

 

“Opal!” Peridot called, wandering down the store. 

“Opal!” Alex and Sugi yelled, peering down aisles and trying to catch a glimpse of dark pigtails and a bright green dress. 

“PRRL!” Sardonyx tried to be helpful. 

“Maybe she found Garnet or Pearl?” Sugi suggested. 

“Oh, so then I’m even  _ more _ dead! Great!” Peridot sighed. “Do you think you two can find a manager?”

“We can get lost too!” Sugi cheered. 

“Scratch that, bad idea.” Peridot sighed. 

“What if,” Sugi asked, “She went to get a gift for Amethyst?”

Peridot considered. “You may be onto something, Sugilite.”

“I’m on the floor.”

“I am aware. Was there anything Opal said she wanted to get Amethyst?” 

Sugilite thought. “Well, Amethyst told us yesterday she was upset we didn’t have this one movie, and then Pearl told her, ‘Shut up, it’s too ‘ntense for the girls’, and then Amethyst said that ‘Maybe  _ I  _ wanna watch it without them, then’, and then Opal wrote the name on her arm.”

“What was it?” Alex asked. 

Sugi thought. “Uh… Encription maybe?”

“No matter, we’ll go to the movie section. Perhaps Opal found her way there.” Peridot then tried to move, only for Sardonyx to cry again. “ _ Now _ what is it?”

“I think she wants off.” Sugi shrugged. 

“Well then  _ get  _ her off!”

 

“Opal!”

Opal looked up. “Hi guys! Do you remember the letters better?”

Peridot ran up, yelling. “Don’t run off like that! You could’ve gotten run over by a stray shopping cart, or attacked by an out-of-control toy, or abducted by aliens!”

“Let’s do that last one!” Opal shouted. 

Peridot groaned. “Alright, what are you looking for?”

“Um, I’m not sure.” Opal rolled up her sleeve to show her a badly-written word on her arm. “I think it says ‘Inscription’.”

“That’s  _ Inception _ , you dolt.” Peridot groaned. “Come on, we can probably find it. Then let’s get back to the toy aisle. Now that I’ve had time to think, I believe Garnet and Pearl probably wanted us to stay in that one place.”

 

“So, how did it go?” Pearl asked as she and Garnet approached, a bright smile on her face. 

“Terrible. At least one of your children will destroy the planet.” Peridot groaned, shoving them at their parents. “Don’t ever put me in charge again.”

“How did make-out go?” Alex asked. 

“Make-up.” Pearl corrected, blushing a little again. 

“Make-out sounds better.”

“Well, Make-up is correct. And it went well. We didn’t find Amethyst anything though.”

“Pearl got to practice enacting vengeance.” Garnet added. 

“She’ll be happy she’s only here for the weekend.” Pearl beamed. 

“Wha’s that mean?” Sugi asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“Nothing. Oh, you got a movie. Good.” Pearl nodded. “But I have another idea. Who wants candy?”

“I want to never babysit again.” Peridot grumbled. 

“Would you take candy?” Garnet asked. 

Peridot sighed. “Sure.”

  
  
  
  
  



	18. The Two Kittens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's something about this book, isn't there?

Chapter Eighteen

 

“Hey, Sard!”

The toddler, sitting in her crib, simply looked up at Opal. “Prrl!”

“Opal.”

“Prrl.”

Opal shook her head. “O-o-o-opal.”

Sardonyx thought this over. “O-o-o Prrl.”

The girl sighed, sitting on the floor in front of the crib. “You’re never gonna get that right.”

Sard giggled. “Prrl.”

“Pearl and Garnet took Alex and Sugi shopping for clothes,” Opal explained, “But I didn’t wanna go. And Amethyst is cookin’ so I can hang with you!”

“Prrl!”

“Wanna play a game?” Opal asked, putting her hands on the bars of the crib. “I say ‘Green’, you can move, but I say ‘Red’, you’ve gotta hold still.”

“Prrl!”

Opal giggled. “Okay, Red!”

Sardonyx blinked up at her, cocking her head to the side. “Pink.”

“No, that’s not how you play!” Opal pouted. “Red!”

“Orange!” 

Opal groaned. “Let’s try something else.” She grabbed a toy off the floor- the bowtie Peridot had given to Sardonyx, which she’d refused to part with. “I’ll throw you this, you throw it back!”

She threw the bowtie, and it bounced off the wall and landed beside Sardonyx. She looked at it, before picking it up and chewing on the corner. 

“Throw it back!” Opal encouraged. 

Sardonyx stared at her, unconcerned, and still trying to eat the bowtie. 

Opal sighed, before trying to climb up the side of the crib. She barely got a few inches before falling onto the floor. 

“Prrl funny!” Sardonyx giggled. 

“Ugh, stop!” Opal flopped back onto the ground, her braids flying back. “You’re so  _ boring _ !”

“Ugh.” Sardonyx repeated, laying down like Opal. 

“Don’t try to copy me,” Opal pouted, “It’s not gonna make me like you more.”

“Prrl?”

“Opal! I’m Opal!”

Sardonyx considered. “Prrl… sis!”

Opal groaned. “I can’t stay mad at you, can I?”

“Yes! Grr!” Sardonyx giggled, and Opal laughed. 

Once she stopped, she stared up at the ceiling, thinking. Aside from Sardonyx’s occasional giggles, it was all very quiet. Silence was nice; it so rarely came about with three sisters and three guardians. Opal sighed, thinking, and asked, “Hey Sard… do you think I would’ve had a sister like you?”

“Me.”

“Yeah, you are my sister,” Opal giggled, “But I mean like… what do you think I’d be like if my parents didn’t go away?”

“Me.”

“Not much of a talker.” Opal muttered, repeating something she’d once heard Pearl use to describe Alex when some lady at the market kept asking her her name. “Just… I was with Alex and Sugi since I was little. I don’t really remember much about my parents. I don’t remember much at all.”

“Baby?”

“Yeah. Apparently I was a baby like you. Alex taught me how to walk.” she paused. “Do you think my Mom would’ve taught me how to walk?”

“Garnet?”

Opal kept staring up ahead. “I mean, I love Pearl and Amethyst and Garnet and everyone, but I kinda wish I could’ve known my parents, too.” she sighed. “But then I guess I wouldn’t have to deal with you guys, then.”

“Deal!”

Opal laughed a little. “Yeah. And I’d miss Alex’s ideas and Sugi’s jokes and you learnin’ to walk and talk.”

“Talk!”

Opal slowly stood up. “Hey Sard, why was I in here anyway?”

Sardonyx looked at her, before saying, “Ame!”

“Oh, yeah.” Opal nodded. “I’m gonna go see ‘er.”

She went to the door, reaching up to open it, only to turn and find Amethyst standing outside. “Hi!” Opal smiled. “Is food done?”

Amethyst looked at her, a little sad. Opal asked, “Is something wrong?”

The woman shook her head. “No. Food’s in the oven. Sardonyx is awake?”

“Yeah.”

Amethyst slowly passed Opal, going to the crib and picking the toddler up. The girl at first pouted, wanting to stay in the crib with her toys, but eventually let Amethyst carry her away. She then grabbed Opal’s hand, asking her to follow her for a sec. They went to the girls’ room, and Amethyst sat Sardonyx down on the rug. “Watch her for a second, I need to dig through your books.”

Opal sat beside the toddler, who sat down and started trying to play with the fabric strips. “You’re funny, Sard.” she giggled. 

Amethyst walked over, sitting behind the two. “You remember this book?” she asked, showing them the cover. 

“ _ The Two Kittens _ ?” Opal read, “Yeah!”

Sardonyx smiled, grabbing the book and flipping through the pages. She pointed at one of them, saying, “Cat!”

“Good job, Sardonyx!” Amethyst nodded. “Can you find the dog?”

As Sardonyx flipped through the pages, probably  _ not  _ looking for the dog, Amethyst turned back to Opal. “Did I ever tell you that this was  _ my _ favorite book as a kid?”

“Really?” Opal asked, eyes wide. 

“Yeah.” Amethyst smirked, leaning back on the toy chest behind her. “It was my Mom’s, from when she was a kid.”

“Tha’s an old book!” Opal said. 

Amethyst nodded. “Yeah. It was one of the books I had when I learned how to read. I used to draw myself with the two kittens whenever I had the time. One time I drew it on my wall- Mama was  _ not  _ happy about that!”

“Pearl didn’t like when we drew on the walls.” Opal remembered, rocking back and forth as she sat. 

“Cat!” Sardonyx yelled again, pointing at another picture. “Cat! Cat!”

“Yeah, well, she handled it a lot better than when I drew on the walls at my Dad’s place.” Amethyst said. “He was really mad…”

“Your Mom and Dad lived in different places?” Opal asked, looking back at her. 

“Yeah.” Amethyst nodded. “I lived with my Mom most of the time, my Dad on every other weekend. He kept trying to get full custody, even though we all knew he didn’t want me around. I was a mistake, and he didn’t like mistakes.”

“You’re not a mistake.” Opal told her. “You’re great!”

“If you say so, kid.” Amethyst smiled, ruffling her hair as the little girl giggled. “That’s not what he and Stepmom thought, though. Those weekends were mostly just staying quiet and hoping they didn’t yell too much.”

“That’s like our old place. Our old foster mom was only nice when people were around.”

“I’m sorry bout that, kid.” Amethyst sighed. “That stuff really messes with your head.”

“But we have you guys now. And you guys love us all the time!”

Amethyst grinned. “Yeah, we do.”

“And we love you, too!”

Amethyst gave Opal a quick hug, smiling. Sardonyx looked up, upset they were leaving her out, and tried to crawl inbetween them. “Want hug!” Sardonyx yelled. 

Amethyst laughed and picked up the girl. “What? You want a hug, too?”

“Hug!” 

“I’ll give you a hug!” Opal said, taking the toddler from Amethyst and hugging her. “Sister hug!”

“Sister hug!” Sardonyx repeated.

Amethyst looked up. “I should probably check on the food. Don’t want to burn anything else down.”

“Amethyst,” Opal asked, before she could leave, “Why haven’t we met your parents yet?”

Silence. Amethyst had already turned to go, so Opal couldn't see her face. “Ame?”

Amethyst turned around, a forced smile on her face. “No reason.”

Opal paused. “Oh. When can we meet them?”

Another pause, as Amethyst’s face fell. She eventually sighed. “Well, I… I don’t think that’d be a good idea.”

“Why?”

“I don’t see them that much anymore.”

“Oh.”

Amethyst nodded. “But hey, you can still hang with us! We’re way more fun!”

“Fun!” Sardonyx repeated, trying to crawl away from Opal towards Amethyst. 

“See you in a sec, when the food’s done!” Amethyst tried to leave again, when Opal called out. 

“Wait!”

Amethyst turned again. “What?”

Opal paused, before saying, “Did your Dad leave, too?”

Amethyst looked at her, nearly frozen, before sitting down again. “That’s one way to put it.”

Opal sighed. “I don’t ‘member much, ‘xcept what our old foster mom told us. I forget that sometimes, too. But she said he didn’t want me anymore.”

“Opal-”

“Why didn’t he want me anymore?”

Opal started to cry, and Amethyst pulled her onto her lap, giving her another hug, as Sardonyx crawled off to find something. “Opal, Opal, it’s okay. Calm down.”

“Is it cause I forget?” Opal asked, still crying. “Did I do something bad?”

“No, no. I’m sure he didn’t want to leave.”

“Yeah, he did.”

Amethyst sighed. “Look, sometimes people leave. And you don’t know why. Maybe he couldn’t take care of a kid. Maybe he thought you’d be better off somewhere else. Or maybe he was just selfish and didn’t want anyone else around. But the thing is, he decided to leave. And you can’t stop that. But you don’t have to blame yourself. You were just a baby, you couldn’t have done anything. He’s the one who decided to leave. And it’s his loss. He missed out on a beautiful little girl, and you know what? We got you instead.”

Opal looked up at her, her sniffles growing more quiet. 

“Yeah. Now we get to watch you get older.” Amethyst smiled. “We get to hug you and laugh with you and teach you how to read, and you can tell us things and play with your sisters and he’s missing all of that. He’s missing you grow up and he’s the one who’s missing out. Because you are a wonderful person, and you’ll be a wonderful person forever. And we’re so lucky we get to know you.”

Opal leaned in closer to Amethyst, wrapping her arms around her in a hug. “Thanks, Mom.”

Opal never realized her slip of the tongue. Amethyst did. She hugged her tighter, trying to hide her own tears from the girl. 

They hugged until Sardonyx crawled back, making grunts until they looked back down at her. “No sad,” she said, before handing Opal  _ The Two Kittens _ . Opal looked down at the page. It was right at the end, and she looked down at the toddler, who had a very hopeful smile on her face. “Thanks, Sardonyx.”

Something beeped. 

“Aw crap,” Amethyst looked up, “That would be dinner.”


	19. Kittens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These next couple chapters are probably gonna be based on me, late at night and slap-happy, thinking, "Wouldn't this be hilarious?"

Chapter Nineteen

 

One of the last things they expected was for Lapis and Malachite to ring the doorbell and hand them a bag of kittens.

But things in this house were rarely expected.

Garnet looked down at the bag, highly confused as she saw the kittens rolling around inside. She looked back up at Lapis with a question on her face.

“Can we come in?” Lapis asked, and Garnet noticed that she was sopping wet.

“Um, sure.” Garnet nodded, letting them in. “Girls, guess who’s here!”

The girls ran out, screaming “MALA!” before tackle-hugging her to the ground. Opal was the first to ask Lapis, “Why are you all wet?”

“I went swimming.” Lapis said, walking in a little farther after making sure Mala was alright.

“At the beach?” Sugi asked, after helping Mala up.

“In the river.” Lapis replied.

Any more explanation was cut off by Pearl running in, taking one look at the scene, and running out again to get towels.

“What’s in the bag?” Opal asked, looking up at Garnet, who made the mistake of showing her. Opal’s eyes widened, and she let out a squeal. “KITS!”

 

“So, what happened?” Garnet asked, keeping an eye on Opal, who was trying to keep five kittens on her lap at once. Alex and Sugi both held one, and Mala and Lapis were sitting on the couch, Mala looking terrified of the small animals. Pearl and Amethyst sat on the floor with the girls, the former holding Sardonyx, who kept trying to grab one of the kittens by the tail, yelling “Cat!”

“We were walking,” Lapis explained, “And we saw the bag in the river. I saw it move, so I grabbed it.”

“And it had cats in it.” Mala added, still eyeing the baby animals.

“Yeah. And we have no idea what to do with them.” Lapis shrugged. “We can’t take care of seven kittens by ourselves, and anyway Mala doesn’t really like animals.”

“How could you not like animals?” Opal asked, looking shocked. “Look how fluffy they are!”

“Do you want someone else to hold those?” Pearl asked, watching Opal try to hold her five in one place.

“No.” she stated. “But if Sugi and Alex are done, I can hold theirs.”

“Um, they’re not ours either.” Amethyst told her. “As much as I’d like to,  _ we _ can’t very well take care of seven cats.”

“What?” Opal looked heartbroken. “But they’re warriors, Amethyst!”

“Oh no.” Amethyst groaned.

“What are we gonna do with them?” Sugi asked, her kitten having fallen asleep on her lap.

Pearl considered. “Rose knows a bunch of people at the animal shelter. I bet she can have them come pick them up!”

“But I want to keep them!” Opal protested. “I’ve already named them!”

“I swear, if one of them is named Ravenpaw, I’m never reading you those books again.” Amethyst sighed.

“Well, obviously not!” Opal scoffed. “They’re not old enough to be ‘pprentices yet. Alex’s is Raven _ kit _ .”

“This was the worst idea.” Amethyst muttered.

“I told you, you should have read them classics instead.” Pearl chided.

“What, like  _ Beowulf _ ? I don’t think they’re quite old enough for that, P.”

“Like  _ Peter Pan, _ Amethyst.”

“-and Sugi’s is Tawnykit,” Opal gestured. “And here I’ve got Lionkit, Turtlekit, Mistykit, and the one Sardonyx’s trying to get is Hollykit.”

“Cat!” Sardonyx yelled.

“What is Opal talking about?” Mala whispered to her Mom.

Lapis shrugged. “I have no idea.”

“I’m going to call Rose.” Pearl stood, pulling her phone out and passing Sardonyx off to Garnet. “I’ll be right back.”

“Can we at least keep Turtlekit?” Opal pleaded.

“Hey, Mala, you wanna hold one?” Sugi asked, turning to the girl on the couch.

Mala shook her head, backing up into the cushion.

“Why don’t you like animals?” Opal asked, still seeming confused at the concept.

“They’re scary.” Mala simply said.

“No, they’re not!” Opal objected. “They’re tiny and fluffy and pretty and they love us!”

Mala shook her head. “They’re scary.”

“Subject change,” Garnet interrupted, sensing that otherwise Opal would argue this for a while, “We’re gonna have to take care of them until Rose’s friends at the animal shelter show up. Do you think they need food?”

“They can learn how to hunt on their own.” Opal huffed.

“We tried to dry them off earlier, but I was just as wet.” Lapis shrugged.

“Okay, where did Pearl put the towels?” Garnet asked, looking around.

“Wanna help me think of warrior names?” Opal asked, as Amethyst stood up.

Amethyst shook her head. “No. I’m going to try and find some water or something. They’re gonna need something to drink.”

“They already have enough water!” Opal objected.

“Yeah, but they can’t drink that.” Amethyst explained. “You think of names on your own.”

“Sugi, Alex, wanna help?” Opal turned to her sisters, still trying to keep her five kittens in place.

“Don’t name em, Opal,” Alex said, “You’ll get attached to em.”

“But how can be Opalstar without a clan?” Opal asked, holding her kittens tight. 

“Cat!” Sardonyx yelled, trying to reach down and grab one. 

“Right, I’m putting you in bed.” Garnet said. “You’re just gonna keep trying to grab them, aren’t you?”

“Sardonyx is helping,” Opal said, “She wants them to stay, too!”

“We  _ can’t  _ keep them, Opal.” Amethyst sighed. “It’s just not-”

“But  _ Ame _ ,” Opal whined, “It’s like  _ The Two Kittens _ , they’re our family now!”

Amethyst paused. “Oh no, we might have to keep them now.”

“No.” Garnet groaned. 

“But we love them!” Alex added, holding up her kitten, who kept trying to play with her hair. 

“Yes! We got Alex!” Opal cheered. 

“We  _ can’t  _ keep seven kittens!” Garnet repeated. 

“OHANA MEANS FAMILY, GARNET!” Opal yelled. 

“What if we give them to people we know?” Sugi asked. 

“That’s, what, me, Rose and Peridot?” Lapis asked, raising an eyebrow. “We’re not taking one, and if we give any to Peridot they will be dead in a day. Remember Fluffy?”

“The Goldfish?” Amethyst shook her head. “Dude. You didn’t even get to see the rabbit.”

“You let her have a  _ rabbit _ ?”

“Okay,” Pearl walked back in the room, shutting off her phone, “Rose says she’ll be here in an hour and she can take them to the shelter.”

“Please, Pearl?” Opal gave her her best puppy-dog eyes, holding her kittens close. “They don’t even have warrior names yet!”

Pearl sighed, kneeling down to Opal’s eye level. “Opal, sweetie, cats are not only a lot of responsibility, but it can be very expensive to get them food and toys and trips to the vet, and we’d have to train them and watch them and we just don’t have that kind of time. Plus, they’d eventually get older, or they might run away, or if one of them has kittens of their own we’d have to take care of them. It’s a lot of work and Garnet and I have jobs, and Amethyst has to take care of you all until she gets one, and you all have schoolwork and stuff. Do you understand?”

Opal considered. “I guess…”

“They’ll be well taken care of at the shelter until they get adopted.” Pearl assured her. “Okay?”

“Okay…”

“Now,” Pearl stood back up, turning to the others, “Does anyone want to order a pizza? I think that’d be nice.”

“Let’s tip the pizza man in kittens!” Sugi suggested, holding up hers as an offering. 

“Um, no.” Pearl shook her head. “I’ll call.”

“Mala and I will head home, then.” Lapis said, standing up as Mala jumped off the couch, still hiding behind her in case the kittens came closer. 

“No! We can still play horses or something!” Alex pleaded. 

“It’s fine, we can play later.” Mala said, eyeing the cats with cautiousness. “Once those are gone.”

“Hey,” Opal said, looking around, “Where did Hollykit go?”


	20. Fall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kay, so you remember how I said the plots of the next few chapters would be decided by me, awake at three AM, thinking, "you know what would be hilarious?"
> 
> There's been a change of plans. This and the next few chapters following were decided by me, awake at three AM, thinking, "You know what create some conflict and be an awesome cliffhanger?"
> 
> Long story short, I think I know what I'm doing with this. Please don't hate me.

Chapter Twenty

 

“And then Korra became a  _ GIANT WOMAN _ !”

Rainbow nodded, running her hands along the fabric. “Did she?”

Opal nodded, her enthusiasm looking like it wouldn’t wear off anytime soon. “Yeah! And she BEAT UP the Evil Avatar! And saved the day! And broke up with Mako!”

“Oh no.” Rainbow said, her voice not even breaking monotone. 

“No, they argued too much to be in love.” Opal said. 

“I thought they were cute.” Alex said. 

“Yeah, but they argued so much neither if them were happy.” Opal explained. 

“What’s that costume for?” Sugi asked, looking at the dress that Rainbow was embellishing. 

“Next dance recital.” she shrugged. “So, is that where you left off in your show?”

Opal nodded, rocking back and forth on the floor, letting out small giggles of excitement. “Yeah! And Amethyst did my hair like Korra, and she’s gonna show me how so I can do it myself  _ all the time _ !”

“You’ll grow outta that hairstyle.” Sugi rolled her eyes. 

“No I  _ won’t _ ! I’m gonna look like Korra  _ forever _ !” 

“What’s this?” Alex asked, picking a script up off the floor.

“The older kids’ play.” Rainbow said, taking it from her. “They moved me and a couple other kids up temporarily cause they need more little kids. Rose said I’m okay so long as I don’t repeat any new words I find.”

“Why?” Opal asked.

“Remember when Amethyst helped Sardonyx learn a new word?” Alex reminded her.

Opal paused for a second, thinking hard, before she let out a small “Oh” and left it at that.

“But hey, I can teach you one of the dances!” Rainbow said.

The girls nodded, beaming. 

“Okay, line up!” she said, clapping her hands and adopting a stiff british accent, which made the girls giggle. “Chest up, tummy in!”

They made an attempt to follow her instructions. Opal nearly toppled over, but Alex caught her really quick and helped her balance. 

“ _ Try to keep your arm in line _ ,” Rainbow started a quick song, as she demonstrated what to do for the others. “ _ Come on, at least pretend you’re doing fine! _ ” She forgot the next line, humming along with an air of annoyance while the girls laughed a little. “ _ All you really have to do is shine _ !”

Opal threw in an impromptu twirl, and spun into Sugi, who spun out towards Rainbow, grabbing her arms. “Come on, dance with  _ us _ !” she said, pulling her along.

“No, that’s not how it goes!” Rainbow protested, though she eventually gave in and started improvising her dance, along with the other girls, until Sugi dropped to the ground, giggling, and everyone followed her lead.

As they laughed, the door opened a little. “Hey, girls!” They looked up as Rose poked her head in the room, glancing around. “Wow, Rainbow? Did you clean up in here?” 

“I got tired of not being able to find my books.” Rainbow shrugged. “Plus, isn’t my Grandma coming tomorrow?”

Rose nodded. “Yeah. We haven’t talked to her in a while, maybe she’ll be… a lot nicer this time.”

Rainbow snorted. “What’s funny?” Alex asked, confused. 

Rose shook her head. “Anyway, I just got a call from a friend, she needs help with something and I need to go. I’ve called Pearl, she can come watch you, but it’ll take about twenty minutes. Will you be alright on your own for that long?” 

Rainbow nodded. “I’ll make sure Sugi doesn’t eat anything she’s not supposed to.”

“Listen, I thought it was chocolate.” Sugi rolled her eyes. 

“Well, okay.” Rose hesitantly said. “She’ll be right here, everyone stay on the same floor of the house. Emergency numbers are on the fridge.”

Rainbow nodded. “Got it, bye.”

As Rose left, Opal asked, “So when is Rose ‘dopting you?”

Rainbow went back to sewing along the edge of her dress, causing the girls to jump at the machine’s noise. “Probably never. I’ve got a lot of relatives who want custody.”

“But she’s fostering you.”

“Yeah, until someone gets custody from the court. And I’m pretty sure none of them actually like me, they just think they’re supposed to take care of the poor orphan kid.”

The girls looked at each other, worry starting to grow. “Does that mean Pearl might not get to adopt us either?” Sugi asked. 

“Yeah, do we have family?” Alex added. “What if they want us instead?”

“What if they split us up?” Opal added, looking scared. 

“Listen, you guys have been in the system since you were babies.” Rainbow said, flipping the sewing machine off for a second. “By now, you’re probably fine. I’ve still got plenty of relatives who all want to look good by taking in the little kid.”

“Are you sure?” Opal asked. 

Rainbow paused, before putting her dress down on the counter. “Hey, wanna see something cool?”

“Yeah!” they cheered. 

She smirked. “There’s an old house in town, nobody goes in it anymore. I’ve got a ton of old stuff there, it’s like a secret clubhouse.”

“Secret clubhouse?” Opal looked positively delighted. 

“Yeah.” Rainbow nodded. “We can run down there, I can show you some pictures I have of my family. Tell you all about them.”

“Shouldn’t we wait for Pearl?” Alex thought. 

Rainbow shook her head. “No, she’ll just want us to stay here and wait for Rose to get back. Don’t you wanna see it?” When they hesitated, she added, “Maybe we’ll be able to see the family of bunnies that live in the yard!”

That was all it took. 

“Let’s go see bunnies!” Opal cheered, jumping to her feet. 

“Okay. I’ve got a house key in my jacket. We’ll be there and back before Pearl even gets here.” Rainbow said. “Let’s go!”

 

“Are you sure this is okay?” Sugi asked again, looking at the cars rush across the road. 

“Yeah, totally. I come here after classes when I walk back to Rose’s house.” Rainbow shrugged. “No one’s ever stopped me. Oh, there’s a red light!”

They crossed, Sugi holding Opal’s hand in case she wandered off. Rainbow led them up the driveway to the old house, explaining something about how the owners died or whatever so nobody bothered to buy the house, which then fell into disrepair. The girls weren’t really listening, and Opal asked, “Where are the bunnies?”

Rainbow gazed across the overgrown yard. “They might be sleeping. We can look on the way out.”

“Okay!” Opal nodded, following the older girl into the house. 

It was dark inside, with messy walls and floors that looked close to breaking, creaking as they stepped on it. “Is this structu’ally sound?” Alex asked. 

“It’s fine, I’ve been here a million times.” Rainbow shrugged. “Follow me.”

They walked up the noisy steps to a room that might have been a bedroom, as Rainbow opened a dresser drawer and pulled out a medium-sized chest, which she flipped open. “Here’s some of my old stuff. I grew outta it but I didn’t want to get rid of it, so it went in here.” she said, showing them. 

Inside was a small blanket, a few stuffed animals, and some small clothes. In the center laid a scrapbook, which Rainbow pulled out and flipped open. “Here are my birth parents,” she said, gesturing to picture. “I was really little then.” She flipped a page. “Then here’s my Uncle. I stayed with him for a bit, but he’s gone, too, so I had to leave. Oh! Here’s my first day with Rose!”

“There’s Pearl!” Opal excitedly pointed out, seeing her foster mom in the background of a picture of Rose. 

“Yeah, she came that day!” Rainbow nodded. “She needed to talk to Rose about something and showed me some ballet stuff.”

“Pearl does ballet?” Sugi asked, amused. 

“Oh, yeah! She’s really good!” Rainbow nodded. “She just likes swordfighting more.”

“What’s up there?” Opal asked, turning around to look at another set of stairs.

“Oh, that’s just the attic. I don’t go up there much.” Rainbow shrugged, flipping a few pages. “Okay, here’s my Mom’s parents. They’re really strict, and really just kinda want to retire.”

“Retire?” Alex inquired. 

“When you’re old enough to stop doing work.” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “And this is my Aunt and Uncle. They’re really mean, think they know better than everyone about everything.”

“Like Ms. Peridot?” Sugi asked. 

“Yeah, but more angry.” Rainbow huffed. “Way more mean. But they still want custody for some reason. This is my Dad’s parents. They’re not really there all the time- I stayed with them for a weekend once and I saw them maybe twice. They go out and have fun with their friends and don’t want another kid, but they feel like they hafta.”

“Who’s that?” Alex pointed to someone in the picture. 

“Oh, that’s my cousin.” Rainbow nodded. “He’s really young and lives across the country. He decided he wanted to finish school before considering adoption. He was nice, I guess.”

She flipped the page, which was filled with pictures of her and Rose. “Oh, this is the time Rose took me to the park! And my birthday party… and that was my first dance studio performance! And that’s when my old acting group did  _ Elf _ …”

Something buzzed in her pocket, and she pulled out a phone, looking a little confused. 

“Is someone calling?” Sugi asked. 

Rainbow paused, before shoving her phone into her jacket pocket and shaking her head. “No. But we should finish up.”

“There’s us!” Alex said, after Rainbow had turned a few pages ahead. 

“Yeah, that was last Spring, when you showed up.” Rainbow laughed. “Sardonyx couldn't even walk yet.”

“I bet you don’t even remember that, Opal.” Alex giggled, before turning and freezing. “Opal?”

They froze, before hearing creaking above them. Rainbow shoved her book back into her chest, shutting it and almost throwing it into the drawer, before she and the other girls ran up the steps, which groaned underneath their feet, threatening to snap. Rainbow threw open a door, and they looked to see that Opal had wandered towards the middle of the room, chasing a moth. There were floorboards missing around her feet, a slight draft was coming from the holes in the roof, and part of the wall was gone. “Opal!” Rainbow yelled, and the girl whipped around, giggling. 

“Hi!” she waved. “I was looking for the bunnies, and I found a butterfly!”

“Opal, stay there. I haven’t been up here in forever, I’m not sure if the floor will still hold.” Rainbow said, slowly walking forwards. 

“Should we call Pearl?” Alex asked, starting to worry. 

“No, we can do this ourselves.” Rainbow shook her head, edging towards the younger girl. “You two stay here.”

“Oh, did I tell you about the end of Korra Two?” Opal babbled, not affected by Rainbow’s worry. “It was great!”

“You did.” Rainbow said, before stepping forwards and breaking a board. 

It was a small hole, no bigger than her leg, but Rainbow nearly lost her balance. She breathed deeply as she finally was still, staring down at the floor beneath her. She started to go around it, looking back to see that Opal now was starting to notice the eery unrest. “Um, but you can tell me more about it?”

“Kay,” Opal said. “So, like, Unalaq fused with Vaatu, and they made an evil Avatar, and Korra and Raava got beat up!”

Rainbow kept trying to edge around the hole, flinching every time she made a creak, the noises getting louder as she came closer. She kept having to backtrack and circle around, starting to wonder if Opal had somehow ended up in the worst spot of the upstairs. 

“And then Bolin told her that he loved her! And it wasn’t a lie!”

Rainbow looked back towards the door, only to see that Alex had started to edge closer. “Stay there!” she hissed, underneath Opal’s rambles. 

Alex shook her head and kept walking towards Opal, the creaks quieter under her feet, as her weight was a little less than Rainbow’s. Sugi was gone, something that added to Rainbow’s growing list of concerns. 

“And then Korra became a-”

Opal started to walk forwards, only for the floorboard to make a threatening groan, loud enough that even Opal noticed, staring down in shock. Trembling, she looked up to the girl in front of her. “Alex?”

“Stay still, Opal.” Alex said. “We’re saving you.”

“Rainbow?” Opal slowly started to turn, to look at the older girl. 

Something sounded at the bottom of the stairs. “Opal?” Was that  _ Pearl _ ’s voice?

“Pearl?” Opal shook harder, which caused an ominous increase in the noise of the floorboards. 

Opal took another step forwards, and the noise got even louder.  _ Too _ loud. 

“Opal!” Without thinking, Alex jumped forwards and pushed the girl, sending her flying across the room, near to where Rainbow was standing. 

The floorboards broke, and Alex fell. 


	21. Waiting Room

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, here's the deal folks. I will NOT be able to update next week. Next week my acting group is performing "The Addams Family", and if you've ever done that musical you know how much work you have to put into it. Also I'm one of the Addams, so that adds a lot of things I have to do- plus, we still need to learn at least two new songs. I will update next Friday but I'll have to take a break next week. I might be able to update "Across Memories", because I've written ahead a lot in that, but probably not this. Is that okay?

Chapter Twenty-One

 

“Where is she?”

Pearl looked up, as Garnet and Amethyst ran in, the former carrying a sleeping Sardonyx. She stood, slowly moving away from Opal, who had sitting by her, head buried in her knees. “She’s inside. They… they haven’t come out yet.”

“Is she gonna be okay?” Amethyst asked. “What  _ happened _ ?”

“I… I don’t really know.” Pearl admitted, struggling to hold back tears. “I… the girls weren’t at Rose’s house… and I drove to town to see if they’d gone for ice cream, cause Rainbow had said she might want some this morning… and Sugi just ran out of the Old House, and said Opal was in trouble, and…” She paused, trying to catch her breath, trying to keep from bursting into a sob. 

Garnet slowly put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay, Pearl, she’ll be okay.”

“But what if I hadn’t been there?” Pearl asked. “What if I waited at the house? What if I got there too late?”

“Don’t think like that.” Garnet said. “You were there, and that’s what matters. Alex is going to be fine.”

“Where’s Rainbow?” Amethyst asked, noticing that she wasn’t present. 

“Rose took her home.” Pearl explained, after taking a deep breath and steadying herself. “She felt terrible about… what happened. I… I would’ve gone into the Hospital Room with Alex, but the girls… I don’t think they would’ve…”

Garnet nodded. “Amethyst and I can go and check on her. You should probably take the girls home.”

“B-but…” Pearl shook her head. “I need to be here! Alex…”

“Pearl, you don’t tend to do well in Hospitals.” Garnet gently reminded her. 

“Nothing good ever happens here.” Pearl mumbled, staring at the ground. “But I  _ have  _ to make sure she’s alright.”

“I can take the girls home.” Amethyst offered hesitantly. “Just call me if you hear  _ anything _ , okay?”

Pearl nodded, and Garnet passed Sardonyx off to her as she walked over to Sugi and Opal, who looked up as she approached. 

“Is Alex gonna die?” Opal asked, terror in her voice. 

“No, no,” Amethyst assured her. “Alex’ll be fine.”

“How do you know?” 

Amethyst paused. “Come on, I can take you guys home. We can watch a movie, or-”

“But what about Alex?” Sugi asked.

“She’ll come home when she’s feeling better.”

Opal looked horrified, tears forming in her eyes. “She’s  _ sick _ ?”

“She’s a little hurt, yeah.” Amethyst nodded. “But she’ll get better. Don’t worry.”

“It’s my fault!” Opal cried, curling up into a ball on her seat. “She’s hurt cause of me!”

“No, no! Opal, honey, it’s not your fault.” Amethyst said, moving to sit next to the girl, putting an arm around her. “It’s not your fault.”

“It is!” Opal nodded. “I shouldn’t have wandered off!”

“No, none of that.” Amethyst looked up to see that Garnet had approached, leaning down to look Opal in the eye, while Pearl talked to a nurse behind them. “Don’t say that.”

“But it’s true!” Opal protested.

“Okay, well, you wandered off.” Garnet said. “Maybe you shouldn’t have gone to the house at all.”

“It’s not Rainbow’s fault!”

“Let me finish.” Garnet sighed. “Maybe you shouldn’t have gone to the house at all. But Rainbow wanted to show you something she thought was cool. Maybe you shouldn’t have been left alone. But Rose needed to help her friend. So what? Was it her friend’s fault? No, because their problem was caused by something else. You can shift the blame as much as you want, but it’s not going to help. What happened happened, and maybe it wasn’t anyone’s fault. Maybe it was everyone’s fault. Or maybe it was just an accident. Accidents happen. There’s no way any of you could’ve known this would happen. And you can’t just blame yourself for it. Okay?”

Opal wiped her eyes on her sleeve and nodded.

“Alright.” Garnet nodded. “Amethyst is going to take you two home. You don’t really need to wait here.”

“Can we see Alex?” Sugi asked, her uncharacteristic silence broken.

“Once she’s feeling better.” Garnet said. “Okay?”

They nodded.

“Alright. We’ll call Amethyst when we find out more. Amethyst…”

“Got it.” Amethyst sighed, sliding off the chair before holding out a hand to help Opal down. “Come on, kids.”

She turned to Garnet before they left, muttering quickly, “You’re taking this way better than the rest of us.”

Garnet shook her head. “No, I’m not. But I’m not going to let my fear control me.”

 

“What can we do?” Sugi asked, sitting on the floor. 

Amethyst dropped a box of markers on the ground, next to the large pad of paper. “We’re gonna draw. We can make Alex a get-well card, for when she gets back.”

“Will that make her feel better?” Opal asked. 

“Well, maybe.” Amethyst said, sitting back and turning the TV on. 

They drew for a while, not wanting to speak, looking anywhere but at each other. Opal sometimes hummed. Sugi sometimes glanced up at the TV. Amethyst would sometimes look up at the couch, where Sardonyx had fallen asleep. 

A few hours passed. The markers went away, Amethyst went to the kitchen to make food, and then they ate in the Living Room, some old TV show going on in the background. Sugi eventually pulled out a book, trying to concentrate on the sentences strung together. 

Finally, while Amethyst was rinsing the dishes, her phone buzzed in her pocket. She answered it almost at lightning speed, holding it up to her ear. “Garnet?”

Opal and Sugi looked up from the Living Room, listening in. 

“She is? Thank goodness. Only a few? Minor, that’s a good thing, right? It’s better than Major, G.  _ What? _ ” Amethyst slowly turned the sink off. “Are you sure?  _ ¿Por qué ella tiene a permanecer tanto tiempo? Esta es tonto! _ ”

Opal and Sugi looked at each other, confused, and a little frightened, as Amethyst proceeded to unleash several words that, if they had been in English, would have gotten her in a lot of trouble for saying in front of the girls. As Amethyst spoke, Sardonyx woke up on the couch, sat up to rub her eyes, and giggled at the sight of Opal and Sugi. “O-prrl!” she yelled, holding out her arms. “Ame!”

“Not now, Sard.” Sugi shushed her. 

Sardonyx huffed. 

Amethyst finally switched back to English. “Ugh, sorry G, force of habit. But she’s okay? Thanks for calling, tell me when you’re coming home.”

She hung up and moved to sit on the couch, letting the toddler lean on her for a second. 

“Wha’s up?” Opal asked, scooting closer across the floor. 

Amethyst sighed. “Well, the good news is Alexandrite’s fine. She’s got some broken bones and stuff, but mostly she’s fine.”

“Tha’s really good!” Sugi said. 

“But she broke bones.” Opal looked very concerned. 

“Yeah but bones grow back.” Sugi informed her. 

“That’s, er, the gist of it.” Amethyst nodded. “The, um, bad news and stuff… um, she’s gonna have to spend the night in the Hospital. Maybe for a while.”

Opal and Sugi stayed quiet, thinking this over. 

“Garnet and Pearl are gonna stay with her overnight, we might trade out nights and stuff for the next few days.”

Still silence. 

“Maybe when she gets back, we can give her another party! You know, have your friends over and stuff. Get her some ice cream.”

“If Alex is stayin’ the night,” Opal said, “Then we won’t be with her.”

“Um, no.” Amethyst shook her head. 

“But we’ve always been together.” Sugi said. “What if she wakes up and we’re not there?”

“Don’t worry,” Amethyst assured them, “Garnet and Pearl are there.”

“But we’re not!” Sugi protested. “What if she misses us?”

“She’ll only be gone a little bit. And we can visit her tomorrow.” Amethyst said. “Maybe we can have Rainbow come, too. And-”

“But we miss her!” Opal said. 

Amethyst sighed. “I know, girls. But she’ll be back really soon, okay?”

Sardonyx looked around. “Garnet?”

“Garnet’s not here right now.” Amethyst said. 

Sardonyx shook her head. “Garnet?”

“Not here.”

Sardonyx scrunched up her face, concentrating hard, before asking, “A’ex?”

Amethyst shook her head. “Sorry, Sard. Alex isn’t here either.”

Sardonyx let out a small whimper and leaned into Amethyst again. “Want A’ex.”

“We all do, Sard.”


	22. Movie Marathon

Chapter Twenty-Two

 

“Alex!”

Alex looked up from the doorway to see Sugi and Opal run at her, stopping just short of the doorway, smiling a little. “You’re back!” Sugi said. 

Alex nodded, limping a little as Pearl ran up behind her to walk her inside. “Watch your step.” she warned. 

“What’s that on Alex’s arm?” Sugi asked, looking up at Pearl. 

“It’s a cast, kid.” Amethyst explained, having come up behind the girls. “Her arm’s broken.”

“Oh no!” Opal looked heartbroken. “Your arm died?”

“No, I just broke a bone.” Alex shrugged. “Or a couple. The doctor says it’ll grow back.”

“I’m sorry!” Opal said, looking close to tears. “I shouldn’t've wandered off!”

“Opal, i’s not that bad.” Alex assured her. “I was thinking, in the hospital, if we add some purple paper to a few places, and make it, like, glow in the dark or something-”

“You can be Shiro for Halloween!” Sugi finished, looking excited. 

Opal immediately brightened. “That would be  _ awesome _ ! Did I tell you I’m gonna be Korra? Amethyst helped me make the outfit!”

“You did?” Pearl looked over at Amethyst, surprised. 

Amethyst shrugged. “It wasn’t that hard.”

“Yeah it was! We had to sew the shirt ourselves!” Opal said. “Ame, can we make Alex her outfit?”

“Um, we can try!” Amethyst said. “Hey, why don’t you girls take Alex in the Living Room? You can show her the new movies we got at the store.”

“Okay!” the girls dragged Alex off, who looked a little concerned at how fast they were moving. 

“And when Garnet gets back,” Amethyst called after the kids, “She may-or-may-not be bringing something that rhymes with ‘mice dream’!”

“You sewed Opal an outfit?” Pearl asked, watching the girls carefully as they started pulling out DVDs to show Alex. 

“I know how to  _ sew _ , Pearl.” Amethyst rolled her eyes. “Gosh, it’s not like I was completely helpless before I met you guys.” She paused. “Um, which show is ‘Shiro’ from?”

“I have no idea.” Pearl shrugged. “We’ll ask later.”

Amethyst nodded, before turning to the girls and running up. “Hey, kids, wanna watch something  _ really _ cool?”

“If you’re talking about what I think you’re talking about, the answer is no!” Pearl called after her. 

The girls laughed; it was nice to see Alex looking happy. Even a little. 

“Geez, Pearl,” Amethyst called back, “I was just talking about  _ Deadpool _ !”

“ _ Absolutely not _ !”

“Just kidding,” Amethyst rolled her eyes. “How about a nice Halloween movie.”

“You’re not showing them  _ Beetlejuice _ !”

“I’m not gonna be able to show them  _ anything _ , am I?”

 

“Are you sure this won’t scare them too much?” 

Amethyst rolled her eyes again, glancing at the kids in the Living Room. “Pearl, it’s  _ Nightmare Before Christmas _ . Who  _ hasn’t  _ seen that movie?”

The three roommates sat around the table over the half-eaten cake in the center, occasionally looking at the girls, who were quietly watching the movie. Even Sardonyx was silent, fascinated by the moving images. 

“I didn’t when I was their age.” Pearl said, thinking. “Wasn’t allowed.”

“Well,” Garnet shrugged, “You also weren’t allowed to see  _ Harry Potter _ .”

“You  _ weren’t _ ?” Amethyst asked. 

“I wasn’t allowed to see lots of things.” Pearl shrugged. 

“What about  _ Corpse Bride _ ?”

“Amethyst, do you-”

“ _ Hocus Pocus _ ?”

“Amethyst, for-”

“You at least saw  _ Addams Family _ , right?”

Pearl put a hand to her forehead. 

“ _ You never saw the Addams Family _ ?”

“Oh, she saw it.” Garnet laughed. “Whenever she was at our place she’d dig out the movies she couldn’t see at home and put those in.”

“Did not.”

“Yes, you did, Pearl. Rose did it, too.”

“What  _ were _ you allowed to watch?” Amethyst asked. “ _ VeggieTales _ ?”

“Amethyst,” Pearl groaned, “For crying out loud, who hasn’t-”

“She wasn’t allowed to watch VeggieTales.”

“You can’t talk, Garnet,” Pearl teased, “You never saw  _ Ghostbusters _ .”

“Fair point.” Garnet shrugged. “But you  _ still  _ haven’t seen  _ Jurassic Park _ .”

Amethyst looked horrified. “You haven’t  _ what _ ?”

“Listen, I have better things to do than-”

“We are having a movie marathon, Pearl.” Amethyst stated. “We’re starting with all the Jurassic Park movies.”

“No! Garnet, tell her!”

Garnet turned to Amethyst. “Add  _ Indiana Jones _ .”

“Garnet!”

Amethyst laughed. “You haven’t seen  _ Indiana Jones  _ either?”

Pearl groaned. “You’re never going to stop teasing me about this.”

“Never.”

They laughed a little, until Amethyst felt a tug on her shirt. She looked down to see Alex, who looked worried. “What is it?” Amethyst asked, her voice softening. 

“Is Jack gonna be okay?”

Amethyst giggled a little, glancing at the screen to see where in the movie they were. “Yeah.”

“Oh.” Alex thought. “What’s Christmas made of, anyway?”

“Pearl,” Garnet asked, “Is this their first Christmas movie?”

Pearl thought for a second. “Oh no.”

“Movie Marathon tonight!” Amethyst cheered, then turned to Alex. “What do you think? Wanna stay up late?”

“Sure.” Alex shrugged. 

“Sweet!” Amethyst grinned. “We’re watching all the dumb Christmas Specials, and  _ Elf _ and  _ Muppet Christmas Carol  _ and  _ Home Alone _ …”

“Remember  _ Home Alone _ , Garnet?” Pearl asked, a smirk on her face. 

“Oh gosh, we found jacks on the stairs for weeks.” Garnet groaned. 

“Yeah, Alex, and then we can watch more Halloween movies!” Amethyst continued, choosing not to partake in this conversation. 

“Um, I think that might be too many movies.”

“But Pearl, they haven’t seen  _ any _ Christmas movies!”

“Actually, we’ve seen  _ Frosty _ .” Alex shrugged. 

“Shh!” Amethyst hushed. 

“Two more movies.” Pearl said. 

“Fine.” Amethyst rolled her eyes. “You can pick, Alex. It’s your party.”

“Um, I dunno. Whatever you guys like.” Alex shrugged. 

“No, I’ll pull out the Christmas movies and show you!” Amethyst grinned. “Or I can find  _ Hocus Pocus _ or something.”

“They might be a little too young for that one.” Garnet considered. 

“C’mon, G, I saw that when I was, like, five.”

“You also saw  _ Beowulf and Grendel  _ when you were eight.” Garnet reminded her. 

“Didn’t you say you saw  _ Excalibur _ when you were nine?” Pearl asked. 

Amethyst sighed. “Fine.  _ Addams Family. _ ”

“Isn’t that PG-13?”

“Not the 60’s show.”

Pearl sighed. “That’s not a movie, Amethyst. That’s a show.”

“One season equals one movie.”

“Amethyst, you’re acting like a child.”

Amethyst mocked offense. “Excuse you! I have graduated College! I am officially allowed to do things like drink and vote and eat as much cake as I can before I throw up! What part of that isn’t adulting?”

“ _ Adulting _ ?”

Amethyst turned to Alex. “Hey, kid, let’s get back to the movie.”

Alex glanced at the TV. “It’s just a montage.”

“It’s gonna get good real soon, I’ll come with you!”

Pearl sighed as Amethyst and Alex walked off. “I think Alex is doing okay. She seems to be adjusting well after… all that.”

Garnet stayed silent, staring down at her hands. 

“Garnet?”

Garnet finally said something. “I guess she is alright. She seems very quiet, though. More than usual.”

Pearl sighed. “She’ll… she’ll be okay.”

They were quiet for a little longer, before Pearl added, “By the way, thanks  _ so _ much for giving Amethyst all the ammunition she needs.”

“You’re the one that brought it up!”

“You encouraged it.”

“Did not!” Garnet then lowered her voice. “You’re lucky she still doesn’t know you never saw  _ Spongebob _ .”

“Don’t you dare.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See y'all in two weeks!


	23. Kindergarten Girl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry for the lack of updates. After "Addams Family" ended I started a Stats Course and that's gonna take up a lot of time, so I might have to update just once a week instead of twice. Sorry! :(

Chapter Twenty-Three

 

Pearl looked up from her book. “Alex? You’re supposed to be asleep.”

Alex looked up from the hallway, her eyes blinking in the sudden light from the Living Room. “I couldn’t get tired. Sorry.”

“It’s not an issue.” Amethyst assured her, looking up from behind the kitchen counter, “I couldn’t sleep for a year after I broke my leg when I was eleven.”

“A year?” Alex asked, horrified.

“Well,” Amethyst ceded, “I also didn’t have medical attention. At all.”

“Come here.” Garnet said from beside Pearl at the couch, and Alex ran to sit between them. “Would you like a snack or something?”

Alex shook her head. “I’m not hungry.”

“How about a story?” Amethyst ran in, jumping over the couch to plop next to Pearl, who let out an angry huff.

“I dunno.” Alex sighed. “I’m not in the mood for _Stellaluna_ or _Dr. Suess_.”

“How about a story from me?” Amethyst asked. “About how I almost got arrested once?”

“Amethyst!” Pearl yelled.

Amethyst sighed. “I meant when I robbed _you_ , Pearl.”

“Oh. That’s fine, then.”

“You robbed Pearl?” Alex asked.

“Tried.” Amethyst smirked. “Story for Alex, then?”

“Story for Alex.” Alex nodded.

 

The group of girls were on a school trip, wandering the canyon to look at the rocks or something, but Rose and her friends had split off from the group to use the bathroom and were a little lost.

“I think they went with the tour guide already,” Rose sighed, glancing at the map. “I can’t believe they didn’t wait for us.”

“What did you expect?” Pearl sighed. “You seriously think _Peridot_ would wait up for anyone else? She’s wanted rock samples from here for months.”

“Heaven knows for what.” Garnet groaned.

“It’s fine, we’ll catch up!” Rose said. “Or we can wait in the gift shop. Anyone want snacks?”

Garnet shrugged as she and Rose walked off, Pearl trailing behind a little, in case the others were at one of the food stands. “I think we’re good.”

“You’ll feel a lot better,” Rose offered, “You’ve been driving all night. I can drive us back tonight if you want.”

“It’s my car, I’ll do the driving.” Garnet stated.

“Oh, but-”

“What do _you_ think you’re doing?”

Rose and Garnet looked around sharply as Pearl whipped around and grabbed the arm of a young girl- maybe fifteen or sixteen- who looked up in surprise and a splash of fear, before she masked her expression into one of disinterest.

“Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about!” Pearl snapped.

“Pearl…” Rose said quietly, “Maybe not here? You’re drawing attention.”

“¿De qué me hablas?” the girl asked.

Pearl let out a groan. “Are you _serious_?”

Garnet glanced at Rose in confusion.

Rose walked up to the girl, a much kinder expression on her face. “Hello. What’s your name?”

The girl blinked at her. “Yo no hablo inglés.”

“Here, let’s talk in there,” Rose gestured to a gift shop nearby, which looked much more quiet than the busy canyon around them. “Maybe we can find your parents.”

“Mis padres están muertos.”

Rose sighed and grabbed the girl’s hand as Pearl reluctantly let go of her wrist. “I’m sorry, I don’t know Spanish. I know French.”

“That might not help.” Garnet finally said, following behind them with a careful expression on her face.

The girl glanced around the canyon wildly, as if trying to figure out an escape route that didn’t draw too much attention to herself. Failing that, she simply followed Rose, biting her lip and staring at the ground.

Rose entered the gift shop, looking around. There were fewer people in there, as most of them were outside on the nice, sunny day. “Let’s see, I’m sure there’s an employee somewhere… she might know of a missing child.”

“No necesito ayuda.” the girl huffed, a little too quickly. “Puedo encontrarlos sola.”

Pearl sighed and kneeled down to look the girl in the eyes. “Alright. Are you a runaway?”

The girl blinked, keeping her composure. “No entiendo inglés.”

Pearl, without hesitation, said, “Así que, ¿cómo saber lo que estamos haciendo?”

The girl looked surprised. When she didn’t respond, Pearl smirked a little and said, “Dónde están tus padres?”

The girl sighed, then said in English, “Dunno. Don’t care. I’ve been out here for years.”

“How…” Rose trailed off.

“How did I survive?” the girl rolled her eyes. “Luck. Nice trash for food, or a back way into a kitchen, or grabbing some unattended cash. Canyon’s actually a great place to live, no one ever checks past the tourist paths, lotsa food places are around with lots of cash no one will notice missing.”

“Speaking of which…” Pearl held out her hand expectantly, and the girl sighed and dug into her pocket, pulling out Pearl’s wallet and handing it back to her.

“And it’s pretty easy to get clothes. Old dumpster out back.” the girl continued. “The gym up in town has a nice shower you can use for free, if you can make the walk over.”

“Have you been all alone out here?” Garnet asked, looking concerned.

“Naw. I got my rocks.” the girl scoffed.

“What’s your name?” Rose asked.

The girl paused for a minute, as if contemplating her response. “Amethyst.”

“Amethyst, we-”

The door behind them opened, and Amethyst didn’t waste a second. She bolted, breaking past Garnet and Pearl and into the crowd.

“Amethyst!” Rose called after her.

Garnet ran after her first, tossing her bag at Rose to hold as she took off. Pearl ran off next, pulling out her phone just in case. Rose was still a little surprised, watching the confused family that had entered close the door behind them, muttering something about “crazy kids”. Rose eventually left, looking ahead at the crowd of people around. She caught a glimpse of Garnet’s dyed hair somewhere in the middle, and was about to go after her when she saw a flash of light purple from the corner of her eye, turning to see Amethyst’s skirt disappear behind a shop. She slowly followed after it, finding herself in a small alley, blocked off on the other side by a wall, a small rope hung over it. Amethyst was struggling to climb up the rope, muttering curses under her breath. Rose slowly approached, unnoticed, before she said, “Hey.”

Amethyst swore and dropped to the ground, the rope hitting her in the face as she fell. She glared up at Rose, holding her hand over her exposed eye as that side of her face stung, curling up into a ball against the wall. “Go ahead, call the cops.” she said after a second. “Maybe it’s about time I get into a jail cell. They have free food there, right?”

“I’m not gonna call the police. At least, not right now.” Rose assured her, sitting down in front of the child.

Amethyst raised an eyebrow. “You’re not? What, I manage to charm you enough, _chica rosa_?”

Rose sighed. “It’s just Rose.”

“Sure, pink.” Amethyst rolled her eyes, relaxing her sitting position a little more, but still keeping herself very closed off. “Fact is, I’m a runaway kid whose stolen who knows how much junk, and lives in a cave on the side of a tourist trap canyon half a country away from where she’s supposed to go. You’re gonna turn me in.” She eyed the rope again warily, as if wondering if she could get up it fast enough.

“How long have you been out here?”

Amethyst seemed surprised at the question. She thought for a second, counting on her fingers. “Seven? Eight years. One of which was spent getting here, stowing away on the back of buses and hiding in old houses at night. Better than what I left behind.”

Rose bit her lip. “What about your parents?”

Amethyst didn’t respond.

“So, did you drop out of school, then?”

“ _No,_ ” Amethyst rolled her eyes, “I go to a private school in England. Team Green.”

Rose looked sad. “What about friends? People to talk to?”

“I’ve got my rocks.” Amethyst sighed. “Remember? I think I mentioned. My sittin’ rock, that rock I once split into two…”

“Amethyst…” Rose sighed. “What kind of life _is_ that? You’re just… alone.”

Amethyst rolled her eyes. “You should try it sometime. Maybe you would pry into other people’s business less.”

Rose thought. “I can’t just leave you out here.”

“Course not.”

“But I don’t have to send you back where you came from.”

Amethyst snorted. “As if.”

“No.” Rose shook her head. “My family owns a school, I can let you stay with us and teach you what you missed out on. Maybe I can help you get into College.”

“I don’t wanna go to school.”

“You can’t just live here forever.” Rose reasoned. “You’ll get caught eventually. And whoever finds you next might not be as willing to help.”

Amethyst raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why are you offering? I’m a runaway kid who stole your friend’s cash, why would you want to help me?”

Rose looked puzzled, the answered, “I want to help everyone. And you seem like you need help, whether you want it or not.”

There was a small silence that followed, in which the two stared at each other. After a while, footsteps sounded behind Rose, and Pearl and Garnet slid into view.

“There you are!” Pearl sighed, relieved. “We were looking everywhere!”

“Is everything alright?” Garnet asked.

Rose looked to Amethyst. Amethyst looked at the older women, mulling over the thoughts in her head. Finally, she turned to Rose. “Hey Pink, when you call CPS, ask if Madison’s still there. She’s the nice one.”

 

Amethyst looked down, letting out a sigh. “What? Was my story _that_ boring, kid?”

Pearl sighed. “It’s alright, Ame. Alex needs her sleep.”

Amethyst picked up the sleeping girl, slowly standing. “I’ll take her back to her room.” she offered. “She’s out like a light.”

“Amethyst?” Garnet asked, looking up from the couch with a troubled look on her face.

“Yeah, G?”

“Why _did_ you run?”

Amethyst paused, looking down at the ground. “I knew where I was going. And I decided to go off the path they set for me.”

After another second, she added, “Y ahora estoy atrapada contigo.”

Pearl smiled a little, while Garnet just looked confused. “What’s that?”

“Probably an insult.” Amethyst smirked. “You’ll never know!”

She turned to leave, carrying a sleeping Alex with her. As she left, Garnet looked to Pearl. “Should I be worried about what she said?”

Pearl shook her head. “No. Amethyst’s fine. She’s doing alright.”


	24. Pumpkin Carving

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is a day late. Speaking of which, if I'm gonna update once a week until Stats class is over, I think I'll do it on Wednesdays, because I have more access to the computer on that day. Is that ok?
> 
> Anyway, enjoy this thing I wrote over Halloween. :)

Chapter Twenty-Four

 

“Pearl! Pearl, look!”

Pearl turned around to see Opal run out of the room, now wearing her Korra outfit, twirling around so she could see. “Look! I’m Korra now!”

“You look wonderful, Opal!” Pearl cheered, bending down to give her a quick hug. “Where are your sisters?”

“Sugi and Garnet are helping Alex with her hair.” Opal explained. “And I finished putting on Sardonyx’s costume but she fell asleep.”

“Alright.” Pearl nodded. “Do you want to help me get the pumpkins ready?”

Opal nodded, running over to the front door and struggling to get it open, eventually managing to turn the knob, and running out to grab a pumpkin. Pearl slowly followed, stifling a laugh as she saw Opal try and lift one of the pumpkins. “Let me help you with that.”

“This one’s mine, though!” Opal told her as Pearl helped her lift it up and carry it inside. “I’m gonna make it look like Raava!”

“That might be a little complicated for you.” Pearl said, eventually managing to walk it into the kitchen and place it by Opal’s chair. 

“It’s okay, Amethyst said that Garnet can help me draw the outline, so I can cut it out from there!”

“Um, no.” Pearl shook her head, walking off to get the next pumpkin. “You are  _ not _ cutting anything. Did Amethyst tell you that you could carve the pumpkin?”

“Uh, yeah!”

“Of course.” Pearl muttered. “Well, you’re  _ not _ , knives are incredibly dangerous.”

Opal paused, waiting until Pearl carried in the next pumpkin, setting it on the table, until she asked, “Is Rainbow coming?”

Pearl hesitated before answering. “Um, maybe. Rose is trying to make her come by, but she’s really tired…”

“What’s she being?” Opal asked. 

“Some TV Show character, I’m not sure.” Pearl shrugged. “I think she called her Danse?”

“Dance?” Opal repeated, as Pearl went to grab the third pumpkin. “Like ballet?”

“I think maybe it was an old 80’s show.” Pearl thought. “Gosh, I can’t remember the name right now. They remade it recently.”

“Boo!” Opal yelled, having been well educated by Amethyst on what that meant. 

“ _ Pearl _ !” 

Pearl looked up, slowly putting the final pumpkin down, as Sugilite and Alexandrite ran out of their rooms, their respective costumes on- a dragon and the Black Paladin. Garnet followed, carrying a sleeping Sardonyx, wearing a tiny magician’s outfit. 

“You two look  _ amazing _ !” Pearl said, bending down to look at the girls as they slid into the kitchen. “Sugi, where did Amethyst get that costume?”

“On the internet!” Sugi beamed, her hair covered by a hood imitating the dragon’s head. “It’s got a  _ tail _ !”

“And look! Amethyst and Garnet made my armor!” Alex said, showing off the styrofoam they used, which had also been used to decorate her cast. “And Garnet dyed my bangs white and the hairspray smelled like crap!”

“Your costumes look  _ so _ great!” Pearl nodded. “I wish I could have helped more, but there’s lots of things going on at school right now, and-”

“Can I have a dragon party?” Sugi asked. “For my birthday in Jan-roo-ary? So I can wear this again? Can I wear this  _ all the time _ ?” 

“We’ll see, your birthday is in Jan _ u _ ary, and you have to wear more than one outfit.” Pearl responded. “Now sit in your chairs, and we can start carving pumpkins.”

“Um…” Alex glanced down at her cast. “Can I do that with one hand?”

“I can help you, Alex.” Garnet offered. 

“When is Mala getting here?” Alex asked as she climbed onto her chair. “She’s gonna be Allura, we’re gonna go together!”

“She’ll be here soon, Lapis is going with you, Rose and Amethyst house to house.” Garnet explained. 

“Where’s your costume?” Opal asked, as Pearl came over to cut out her pumpkin. 

“Well,” Pearl said as she started to carve, “I’m not going to wear a costume.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m not going trick-or-treating, I’m just going to stay here and hand out candy.”

“And Garnet?”

“No Costume.” Garnet said. 

“But Amethyst is wearing a costume. She’s in her room putting it on.”

Pearl sighed. “That’s because Amethyst is… she hasn’t grown out of dressing up ye- Amethyst  _ are you serious _ ?”

Amethyst was sitting on the edge of the couch, her hair tucked into a long, blonde wig, wearing a crop-top, jacket and shorts, large, brown boots, and with bright yellow gauntlets on her hands. 

“One-hundred percent.” Amethyst smirked. 

Opal brightened a little, though confusion was evident on her face. “Are you Rapunzel?”

“Close, kid, but no.” Amethyst said, sliding into the seat inbetween her and Alex. “I’m from a show that  _ Pearl _ won’t let you watch.”

“I told you Amethyst, the fight scenes in  _ RWBY _ would be too intense and violent for-”

“Blah blah blah,” Amethyst rolled her eyes, “Says the girl who wasn’t allowed to watch  _ Fairly Odd Parents _ . Anyway, check this out.”

She stood on the chair, showing them a bright red button she’d attached to the top of her Gauntlet. She pressed her gauntlets together, and her wig lit up. 

“Yay!” Alex applauded. 

“It  _ is  _ Rapunzel!” Opal cheered. 

“How’d you do that?” Sugi asked. 

Amethyst sat back down, pleased with herself for being able to impress the children. “The button came with the wig, it just needed a little re-attachment. And no, Opal, Yang is actually based on  _ Goldilocks _ , I don’t think we have a Rapunzel yet.”

“But her hair lights up!” Opal said. 

“Yeah, but it sets on fire instead of healing stuff.” Amethyst explained. 

Pearl decided it would probably be best to change the subject before Amethyst started describing more things to them. “Alright, I think we’re ready to clean out the inside of the pumpkins. Just scoop out the insides and seeds with the spoon by your seat, put them on the tablecloth, or you can pick out the seeds and we can cook them later.”

“I’m gonna draw Raava!” Opal announced, immediately shoving her hands into the middle of the pumpkin. 

“I’m gonna make the Black Lion!” Alex explained. 

“Dragon Egg!” Sugi beamed. 

“Oh gosh...” Pearl sighed. 

At that moment, the doorbell rang. Pearl waited until she was sure Garnet and Amethyst had started helping the girls carve the pumpkins, before turning and heading towards the door.

“Hey.” Lapis waved as the door opened. Mala smiled and then ran past Pearl, calling for the girls. 

“Look at my costume! We made it ourselves!” she called, as the girls dropped what they were doing and ran over. 

“She’s really excited.” Lapis said as she walked in. “She hasn’t wanted to go trick-or-treating so much before.” She paused, scanning the group. “Is Amethyst dressed as some sort of vigilante Rapunzel?”

“It’s from a show.” Pearl groaned. 

Garnet walked over, passing Sardonyx to Pearl. “You may need to talk to Amethyst. She wants to marathon all the Halloween movies she can get once they get back.”

“Ugh, of course.” Pearl sighed. “And they’re all horror movies, I assume?”

Garnet shook her head. “Just pretty much everything ever made by Tim Burton.”

“I’ll talk to her.” Pearl affirmed, looking down as Sardonyx started to wake up, blinking drowsiness out of her eyes. 

“Mommy?” she looked up at Pearl. 

Pearl beamed. “Yes, hello Sardonyx.”

“Twick-er-Twees?” 

Pearl giggled. “Yep. Do you want to go with Amethyst and Lapis or stay here and hand out candy?”

“Bob!” Sardonyx noticed Lapis’s presence, waving to her. 

Lapis sighed. “It’s Lapis.”

Sardonyx nodded. “Bob.”

Garnet walked over to the girls. “Alright. Let’s finish the pumpkins.”

“Yeah! You wanna help, Mal?” Opal asked. “You get to shove your hands in all the guts and seeds and stuff!”

“Yeah!” Mala grinned. 

“You can help me!” Sugi said, grabbing her hand and running her over to the table. “ _ Mine _ is the biggest!”

“Boo!” Sardonyx giggled, letting Pearl put her down and running after her sisters. 

“How’s Alex?” Lapis asked, watching the girls start to clean the pumpkins out. 

“She’s… she’s doing well.” Pearl said. “She hates the cast on her arm, but she’ll be able to take it off soon, we think, and…”

There was a knock at the door again. “Excuse me.” Pearl said, running off to answer it. 

She opened the door, and immediately received a hug from Rose. “Happy Halloween!” she said.

“Um… yes.” Pearl nodded. “Come on in, the girls are carving pumpkins…”

Rose entered, followed by Rainbow, who kept staring at the ground. 

“That’s a lovely costume.” Pearl said. Rainbow simply nodded. Pearl hesitated, before turning to Rose. “Where’s Greg?”

“He’s staying at the house to hand out candy.” Rose explained, before turning to Rainbow. “Hey, Rainbow, why don’t you go say hi to the girls?”

Rainbow shook her head. 

Rose sighed and kneeled down to her eye-level. “Rainbow, you moping around isn’t going to solve anything.” When the girl continued to stare at the ground, Rose sighed and continued on. “Rainbow, you can’t run and hide from your problems. We talked about this.”

After a second, Rainbow nodded. 

“Who’s there?” Opal called from the Kitchen table, unable to see them over the couch. 

Rose sighed and stood up, leading Rainbow by the hand towards the girls. 

“RAINBOW!” Opal yelled, jumping down from the chair and rushing forwards, giving her a tight hug. “Rainbow we haven’t seen you in  _ forever _ ! Where have you  _ been _ ?”

“Hugs!” Sugilite yelled, running up and joining in the group hug around a surprised Rainbow. 

“Guess what! Korra can  _ metalbend _ now! And look!  _ I’m  _ Korra now!” Opal yelled, showing off her outfit. “What are you? You look like a rainbow threw up on confetti!”

“Tha’s what they looked like in the 80’s.” Sugi rolled her eyes. “Duh.”

Rainbow giggled a little, before falling silent when Alex walked up. Rainbow’s eyes flitted to her cast, biting her lip and avoiding Alex’s gaze, staring at the ground, as Alex watched her carefully. They were quiet for a few seconds, as Sugi bounced her leg and Opal twirled a little, not noticing the sudden silence in the room. 

Finally, Alex said, “Do ya like my costume? We dyed my hair.”

Rainbow nodded. “Yeah. We dyed mine too.”

“Did it smell bad?”

“Oh, yeah!”

Rainbow and Alex giggled, and Alex grabbed her hand with her free one. “Come on, Amethyst is helpin’ me carve my pumpkin! Did you do yours?”

As they ran off, Sardonyx toddled back to Pearl, several candy bars in her hands. “Cake?” she asked, showing the sweets off. 

“Candy.” Pearl explained. 

“Wha’s cake?” Sardonyx asked, a little confused. 

“A lie!” Amethyst yelled from the kitchen. 

“Cake is what we had at your birthday party in August.” Pearl explained. “Remember? You blew out the candle!”

Sardonyx beamed at the memory and nodded, blowing out of her mouth to imitate the action. 

Pearl nodded, smiling, before hearing Amethyst say, “Hold on a sec, kids, I’ll put a movie on for you while you carve!” Pearl gave her a look, and she added, “Don’t worry, P, there’s no ‘violence’ or ‘gore’.”

Pearl sighed, and smiled a little as Amethyst ran into the Living Room. 

Two minutes later, as the Addams Family theme blared through the speakers at top volume, Pearl let out a groan and slid to the floor.    
  



	25. Just a Thought

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all.
> 
> In case you don't know, some crap went down in America this morning. And I needed to write some of my feelings out. This'll be a bit shorter than usual. I'll work on making the next one longer. 
> 
> To my American Readers, just breathe. It'll be okay. The world hasn't ended just yet. Take a moment to think of just flexibility love and trust.
> 
> You're not alone.

Chapter Twenty-Five

 

Sardonyx, tripping over herself as she ran across the room, finally made it to Sapphire, holding up the colored block she’d been playing with. “Reh!”

“Um, yes, it is red.” Sapphire nodded.

Sardonyx giggled. “Thanks!” She then proceeded to speak in a loud near-gibberish, giggling between her words and gesturing with the block.

Sapphire blinked. “I’m gonna be 100% honest with you, Sardonyx. I have  _ no _ idea what you just said.”

Sardonyx considered, then repeated her gibberish. Was it possibly  _ faster _ this time? Sapphire had no idea what she was trying to say. Even when Garnet was her age, she liked to stay quiet all the time, and store up words in her mind only for usage when necessary. Sardonyx– as well as pretty much all of her sisters– wouldn’t stop talking. 

Ruby finally walked over, addressing Sardonyx. She nodded, saying, “Yeah. Uh-huh.”

Sardonyx giggled and continued her speak, running off to do whatever.

“Do you know what she was talking about?” Sapphire asked.

“I caught the words ‘tower’ and ‘smash’, so I just assume she expected a positive response.” Ruby shrugged. “Anyway, I think Opal and Sugi finally got tired of hearing embarrassing baby stories about Garnet, because Opal actually fell asleep. Sugi’s doing something involving her dragon toys in her room, and she wanted to know if Sardonyx wanted to play.”

“Well, let’s see.” Sapphire looked up as Sardonyx toddled back to them, this time with a blue block.

“Bwoo!” Sardonyx said.

“Hey, Sard, wanna go see Sugilite?” Ruby asked. 

Sardonyx beamed. “Sugi!”

“Yeah!” Ruby said. “Come on, let’s go!”

Sardonyx followed Ruby, starting up her gibberish talk again. Sapphire stood to follow, before pausing. The front door swung open, and Amethyst entered. “Hello, Amethyst!” Sapphire called.

The young woman looked up in surprise. “Oh, hey, Sapphire! I didn’t know you were here.”

Sapphire sighed. “Yeah. Garnet had work and Pearl was taking Alex for a doctor’s appointment, so we-”

“AMETHYST!” Sugilite yelled, running down the hall and jumping at the girl at the door, who dropped her coat as the little kid hugged her.

“Hey, Sugi!” Amethyst laughed. “How’s it going?”

“Great! Ms. Ruby and Sardonyx are gonna play Dragon Army with me, do ya wanna come?” Sugilite then turned towards Sapphire. “Do you wanna play, Ms. Sapphire?”

“I don’t think I’d be very good at that.” Sapphire said. 

“You’ll be fine!” Amethyst shrugged. “It’s like Transformers, I think, but on the planet from Star Wars III and with the plot of Artemis Fowl.”

“And Sardonyx finally stopped trying to eat the pieces!” Sugilite grinned. “Come on, it’ll be fun! And Opal doesn’t like playing it cause she forgets the plot all the time and Alex won’t be back til later today and I need someone to be Magma-8.”

Sapphire sighed. “I guess…”

“Yay!” Sugilite cheered. “We’re in our room! I’ll go help Ms. Ruby set up the Dragon Army Volcano Base!”

As she ran off, Sapphire turned to Amethyst. “Volcano base?”

“I think it’s just her books stacked underneath a red blanket.” Amethyst shrugged.

Sapphire watched her carefully as Amethyst started putting her coat away, kicking off her shoes. “Are you okay?”

“Sure.”

That wasn’t a good sign.

Sapphire waited until Amethyst was done, then sat on the couch. “You going to talk about it?”

Amethyst groaned and walked forwards, sitting on the carpet. “How do you always know when I’m upset?”

“You’re not very subtle about it.” Sapphire shrugged. “Plus, I’ve known you for… six years now? It’s pretty easy to pick up on your body language.”

Amethyst was silent again. Sapphire then said, “Don’t tell Garnet I told you this, but when she was eleven, she came home really upset. Someone had told her that her asexuality was a sickness, and it wasn’t normal. She didn’t tell us at first, so we didn’t know what was wrong. The next day Rose found out what was going on and made her tell us. She had to talk to someone about what was bothering her, or we couldn't help. So, are you going to tell us what happened, or am I going to have to get Rose to drag you over to have a chat?”

Amethyst sighed. “I was helping Vidalia out with her kid– you remember Sour Cream? And I went out to get her some extra food, she was running low and stuff, and a couple of girls from College were at the store…”

“Let me guess, they weren’t your friends?” 

Amethyst groaned. “I mean, usually it wouldn’t bother me. But… I just did my thing, ya know, joked about how awful I am and how dumb they all are, went back and got Vidalia her stuff, but I was just thinking while I walked back. I just assumed that we as a species had gotten past this. That we were better than picking on people who were different. That we could live and not be judged for things we can’t control.”

“Like?”

Amethyst sighed. “Like who happened to get parents who didn’t ditch their kids.”

Sapphire paused, before walking forwards and sitting by Amethyst. “I know I can’t just  _ say _ not to let it bother you. It’s going to bother you whether you want it to or not. But you’re not alone in this. And it’s not a shame to talk about it.”

“To who?” Amethyst snorted. “Nobody woke up one day to find nobody actually cared about them.”

“Really?” Sapphire raised an eyebrow. “Pearl’s  _ never _ had a good experience with any kind of parent in her life. You know everything that happened with Rose’s Mom. Peridot’s parents are somewhere on the run from the law. Amethyst, you have four girls here now who have all been in the foster system for  _ years _ .”

Amethyst considered, then said, “Are we gonna suck as parents?”

“Of course not.” Sapphire assured her. “Amethyst, my Mom disowned me when I was sixteen, and I was upset for the longest time. But you can’t control how other people see you once they’ve made up their minds. Some people are just awful, this world is never going to be perfect, and life has always got it out for you.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“But we all keep moving on. Ruby and I moved on, and when we adopted Garnet, I did everything I could to make sure I wouldn’t make my mother’s mistakes.”

Amethyst sighed. “I’ve accepted it wasn’t my fault a while ago. It doesn’t stop me thinking it sometimes, but usually I know that. But... why do some people think they’re better than us because of something that’s not our choice?”

“They just want to feel better about themselves by putting others down.” Sapphire said. “You just have to make sure you can’t let them win. They can’t hurt someone who can’t be hurt. And it’s a little hard to be hurt by petty comments when you’ve got so many people who care about you.”

Amethyst smiled a little. “So, what happened to the kid who picked on Garnet?”

“We called the kid’s parents, who were convinced their ‘precious baby’ wouldn’t ever bully a student. That kid never changed, well, until Pearl beat them up.”

“Pearl did  _ what _ ?”

“Well,” Sapphire smiled, “She denied it and didn’t get punished, but we could tell. She was a lot more of a rebel than she’ll let you believe.”

At that, Sugilite ran in. “The Volcano base is up! Come on, the battle is beginning!” She looked to the adults, pausing a second. “What were you talking about?”

“Nothing, kiddo.” Amethyst sat up. “It was just a thought.”


	26. Doodles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS WE GOT HIT BY A DEER THIS WEEK
> 
> Remember a few chapters ago when I made a Gilmore Girls reference by having Pearl and Amethyst get hit by a deer? WE ACTUALLY GOT HIT BY A DEER 
> 
> Oh also I turned sixteen a few days ago but WE GOT HIT BY A DEER I CAN'T BELIEVE

Chapter Twenty-Six

 

“Garnet!”

Little Sardonyx ran forwards towards the woman who’d walked in the door, holding up a piece of paper, which was very crinkled up and included scribbles in different colored crayons vaguely shaped like people. Garnet kneeled down, eyeing it. “Wow. That’s really good, Sardonyx.”

“It you!” Sardonyx giggled, pointing to a red shape. “An’ Prrl!”

“Oh?” Garnet said. “And what are we doing?”

“Singing!”

“Ah, yes, that’s very clear.”

“Garnet!” Opal and Sugi yelled from the living room, looking up from the floor. Alex waved beside them. 

“Come see what we drew!” Opal called. 

Garnet walked over, trailed closely by Sardonyx, who was babbling on about “pretty colors!” and giggling to herself. When Garnet sat down next to the girls and their piles of paper, Sardonyx immediately sat on her lap, grabbing a purple crayon off the ground and continuing her drawing. 

“Look at Alex’s!” Opal said, grabbing a paper out of her sister’s hand and showing it off. “She drew Elphie!”

“Opal, give it back!” Alex whined, slowly taking the drawing back. 

“It looks good.” Garnet told her, as she slowly put the paper aside. 

“It’d look better if I had my hand workin’.” Alex sighed. 

“Draw Glinda next, Alex!” Opal giggled. 

“I don’t feel like it.” Alex shrugged. 

“Gwinda!” Sardonyx repeated, grabbing several crayons and moving them over her scribbles as a rainbow. 

“And this is what I drew!” Opal added, holding up her drawing which, while not necessarily drawn  _ well _ , looked incredibly complicated. “See? It’s all of us! I actually remembered all of us! You’re a lightning bender- that’s what the streak of yellow is- and Pearl is an airbender, that’s why her headband is an arrow now, and Amethyst is an earthbender!”

“Very good.” Garnet nodded. “And Alex is a firebender?”

“Tha’s why she’s in red.”

“Oh. So Sugilite is an Earthbender?”

“Yeah!”

“And you’re a waterbender?”

Opal looked offended. “I’m the  _ Avatar _ .”

“Ah, of course.” Garnet paused. “And where’s Sardonyx?”

Opal huffed. “Sardonyx is  _ no one _ , cause she stole my crayons!”

Alex sighed. “Opal, we talked about this. Sardonyx made a mistake and won’t do it again. Right, Sardonyx?”

“ _ A Heff’lump and Woozle, ‘s very confuzzle, _ ” Sardonyx sung absent-mindedly, “ _ A Huff”lump and Woozle vewy sky! _ ”

“And this is all our friends!” Opal continued, choosing to ignore her baby sister, “See, here’s Ms. Rose and Ms. Lapis and Rainbow and Mala, they’re all waterbenders, and Mr. Greg is Earthbender, and Ms. Peridot’s a metalbender! And your mommies, Ms. Sapphire and Ms. Ruby, they’re a waterbender and a firebender!” She paused to take a breath, and then asked shyly, “Do you like it?”

“I love it, Opal.” Garnet smiled. “You must have put a lot of thought into this.”

“And tha’s not jus’ it!” Opal beamed, picking up another paper and handing it to her. “See, I kept forgetting who I put where, so Sugi helped me write it all down! Now I can’t forget!”

“Very nice.” Garnet nodded, looking at the paper. “You’ve gotten really good at writing, if just phonetically.”

“Phonewhat?” Opal blinked. 

“Nothing,” Garnet grinned, passing her back the paper, before whispering, “For the record, though, ‘Lapis’ only has one ‘s’.”

Opal nodded seriously and grabbed a crayon to cross it out. 

Garnet turned to Sugilite, who was being uncharacteristically quiet. “What did you draw?” 

Sugilite shook her head. 

“You didn’t draw anything?”

“Yeah she did!” Opal giggled. “Show her, Sugi!”

After a second, Sugi said, “It’s not as good as your drawings.”

“Sugi, Pearl says not to compare yourself to others.” Opal chided. “Cause you’ll never get better if you just think about people who are better than you.”

“Show her, Sugi,” Alex said, “She’ll love it.”

Sugilite sighed and picked up a piece of paper, passing it to Garnet. On it was a drawing of a Dragon, looking a bit like a Chinese Azure Species, but drawn in purple and with five eyes. “This is really good, Sugilite.” Garnet said, giving her a smile. “You’re getting good at art.”

“I am?” Sugi asked, brightening up.

Garnet nodded. Sardonyx looked up at the art, grinned and said, “Sugi drew Mushu!”

“Actually, it’s me as a Dragon, but she’s close.” Sugilite shrugged. 

“That reminds me,” Garnet said, “Isn’t Amethyst supposed to be watching you? Where is she?”

“Oh, she’s in time-out.” Alex shrugged. 

Garnet blinked. “What?”

“Yeah.” Sugi nodded. “She was drawing with us, but then she stepped on Sardonyx’s paper, and so Alex put her in time-out.”

“She’s in her room thinking about what she did.” Opal giggled. 

Garnet paused, before shrugging. “Cool. When’s she coming out?”

“When Pearl gets home.” Alex said. “Or when we need her to make us pizza.”

“She puts chips on it!” Opal added. 

“Alright. Good choice.” Garnet said. “Want to watch a movie?”

“I got it!” Alex jumped to her feet, running towards the TV. “Any requests?”

“Annie!” Opal yelled. 

“Which one?” Alex asked, after digging through the cabinet and pulling out three discs.

Opal blinked. “Which what?”

 


	27. Hidden Treasures

Chapter Twenty-Seven

 

“And Ms. Peridot said that bugs were ‘put on this planet to torture the living’ or something.” Opal quoted, playing with the carpet around her. “But Pearl told her to stop being negative, and Peridot told her to stop being bossy, and Garnet said-”

“Does she ever stop?” Mala whispered to Alex. 

Alex shook her head. 

“-and then Pearl got a call and told Amethyst to take us home, and-”

“Do you think she’d notice if I dumped an ice bag on her head?” Sugi asked. 

“We’d have to go to the kitchen to get that.” Alex sighed. “And no, you’re  _ not doing that _ .”

Opal finally stopped to take a breath, and the door opened, to reveal a very confused Amethyst. 

“Uh, why are you guys sitting in the closet?”

“Shh!” Alex hushed her. “We’re hiding!”

“From what?”

“Pearl and Lapis!” Sugi explained. 

There was a pause, before Amethyst asked, “What did you guys break?”

“Nothing!” Mala protested. 

“A few things.” Sugi amended. 

“It’s not like we were digging through boxes or anything!” Opal added. 

“Shut  _ up _ !” Alex hissed. 

“Well, Pearl and Lapis left about an hour ago.” Amethyst told them. “How long have you been in here?”

They blinked. “How long ago was three-thirty?” Alex finally asked. 

Amethyst sighed, then flipped on the closet lightswitch, walking in and sitting on the floor. “Alright, might as well supervise. What’d you guys find?”

“Nothing…” Alex lied. 

Amethyst raised an eyebrow. 

Alex relented. “Sugi, the door.”

“Got it!” Sugilite grinned and ran by, jumping up to grab onto the door handle and shutting it. 

Amethyst let out a laugh. “Wow. Haven’t been in the closet since Rose and Pearl were dating.”

“You put stuff in here all the time.” Alex reminded her. 

“It was- nevermind.” Amethyst sighed. “So, what kind of stuff is in here?”

“Mostly hats and gloves!” Opal said. “The stuff Pearl’s gonna make us wear in winter!”

“But,” Mala added, “We found this!”

She held up a hardcover book, decorated with strange symbols. 

“ _ Artemis Fowl _ ?” Amethyst said. “Wow, I was wondering where Garnet put that.”

“Oh.” Mala looked disappointed. “We thought it was some sort of magic book. Cause of the cover.”

“No, that’s just in code.” Amethyst informed her. 

“Like this book!” Opal held up another, showing Amethyst proudly. “This is secret code!”

“Uh, that’s actually in Greek.” 

“Why do we have that?” Sugilite asked, having opened another box of winter clothes and trying to dig through. 

“It’s the  _ Iliad _ , I think.” Amethyst said, as Opal passed her the book. “Garnet’s the one who studied Greek and Latin.”

“It’s a  _ Greek code _ !” Opal beamed, looking excited. 

“What’s this?” Alex held up a small item that looked like half of a pink owl. 

“That’s a dog toy.” Amethyst explained. “The dog, uh, was a little too tough with it.”

“We had a  _ dog _ ?” Sugi asked. 

“No. Rose did when she was eight.” Amethyst shrugged. 

“Can we get a dog?” Alex asked. 

“No.” 

“What’s this?” Mala held up something she’d dug out. 

“That’s a slap bracelet.” 

“Hmm.” Mala slapped the bracelet. “Ow!” After a second, she slapped the bracelet onto her wrist, jumping a little as it hooked around her arm. “What?”

“Those used to be a thing. At least Pearl says they were, I’m not sure I believe her.” Amethyst laughed. 

“I love it.” Mala said, her eyes wide. 

“You can keep it. I don’t think anyone cares for it.” Amethyst told her. “In fact, take as many as you want. I’m sure there’s more in here somewhere.”

“I wanna try!” Opal tried to run over to Mala, and only ended up tripping over a box. “Ow! Who put that there?”

“You did.” Sugi reminded her. 

Opal scanned the contents of the box as she tried to push them all in. Then she paused, and pulled out a torn blanket, faded so that any decorations couldn’t be seen. “What’s this?”

Amethyst slowly took the blanket from her, before shoving it back into the box. “That is nothing. Just a… a thing.”

The girls stared at Amethyst for a little, before Alex grabbed another pile of books. “Also, we found these. Can we read them?”

“If it’s not a romance, then probably.” 

“Are any of them in Greek Code?” Opal asked, running forwards, her spill over the box completely forgotten.

Sugilite stopped by Amethyst as she walked over, looking up, wondering if she should say something. Finally, she asked, "Is Pearl gonna be okay with her looking through her stuff?"

"Why wouldn't she be?"

 

“Amethyst!”

Amethyst looked up from the couch, flipping over in her head everything she might have done wrong the last few hours. “Yeah, P?”

Pearl looked up from her phone, which she’d just stopped talking on. “Did you give Malachite slap bracelets?”

“Yeah.”

“How many?”

Amethyst paused. “A box?”

“She’s trying to wear  _ all of them at once _ !”

“Cool.”

“ _ Amethyst _ !”


	28. And So My Garden Grows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen. I don't mention it in the chapter but I went and saw Moana last weekend. It was amazing. All of you should go see it. Please go see it. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

 

Opal ran into the living room and flopped on the couch next to Amethyst. “Ame, can you teach me to use a bow?”

Amethyst blinked. “Aren’t you supposed to be reading?”

“I finished.”

She raised her eyebrow. “Really?”

“Yeah!”

“So, where did Mary live?”

Opal blinked. “In the garden?”

“No, Opal.”

“But it’s called the  _ Secret Garden _ . That’s where she lives.”

“Nope.”

Opal paused. “Well, I guess I forgot.”

Amethyst sighed. “Go read the book, Opal.”

“But reading’s so  _ hard _ ! I still get ‘u’ and ‘v’ mixed up! I can’t remember what happened three sentence families ago!”

“Sentence families?”

“I can’t even  _ remember _ what they’re called!” Opal groaned.

“Sentence families…” Amethyst muttered, trying to figure out what she was referring to. 

“Sugi and Alex can read way better than me!”

“Well, maybe they can help you.”

Opal shook her head. “Sugi’s reading  _ Christmas Song _ and Alex’s reading  _ Alice’s Wonderland _ and Pearl’s not home yet and Garnet’s at work so can you teach me to use a bow?”

Amethyst considered. “I mean, I guess, I’m not very goo-  _ why do you want to learn to use a bow _ ?”

“So I can shoot the book.”

“It’s not  _ that _ bad…”

“Too many words!”

Amethyst sighed. “You know…”

 

Pearl walked into the house, shut the door, and immediately put her head in her hands.

“Amethyst,  _ what  _ are you doing?”

Amethyst and Opal looked up from the living room, where Opal was holding a toy bow accessory to Alex’s Mérida costume and three suction-cup arrows. The book  _ The Secret Garden  _ hung by a string from the ceiling fan, which thank  _ heaven _ wasn’t on. None of that was that worrying, in perspective of the rest of Pearl’s life, but what did put her on edge was the fact Amethyst had somehow acquired an actual set of bow and arrows.

“Helping Opal with her reading.”

Pearl surveyed the situation. “And  _ how _ is that going to help Opal with her reading?”

“I won’t have to read the book after it’s destroyed.” Opal shrugged.

“No, no, no,” Pearl sighed and walked forwards, taking the bow from Amethyst. “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.”

“Aw, but Pearl, haven’t you ever wanted to violently destroy a book with a weapon bigger than you?” Amethyst asked, putting her arm around Opal with a bright grin.

“Yes, and I have. Multiple times.” Pearl rolled her eyes. “Not until she’s at least fourteen.”

“But I have to destroy the book  _ now _ !” Opal whined.

“Can  _ you _ shoot it?” Amethyst asked.

“No. Where did you get this?”

“Rose left it here last week.”

“Why did  _ Rose _ have it?”

Amethyst shrugged.

“But Pearl, I got two pages in! It was so boring!” Opal complained, trying to make her eyes as big and adorable as possible.

“It’ll get better. Please take  _ The Secret Garden  _ off of the ceiling fan.”

“Maybe the book’s a little  _ advanced _ for a five-year-old?” Amethyst offered.

“I read it when I was her age.”

“Yeah but you’re a nerd.”

“I wanna be a nerd!” Opal brightened. “Can I be a nerd?”

“You can be a nerd if you finish the first chapter.” Pearl said. 

Opal huffed. “Isn’t there an easier way?”

“It involves being good at math.” Amethyst told her.

“ _ Boo _ !”

“Come on,” Pearl sighed, walking forwards and pulling the book off of the string. “I can help you with the first chapter, if you want.”

“I want to learn how to shoot! Like Rapunzel!”

Pearl blinked. “You mean like Mérida?”

“Her too!”

Pearl sighed. “If you finish the first chapter with me, I can help you with the toy bow. Alright?”

“Yay!” Opal scampered off, yelling over her shoulder, “We can read in my room! We can annoy Sugi! It’ll be great!”

Pearl slowly started to follow her, after giving Amethyst a pointed glare. 

A second later, Amethyst yelled, “PARAGRAPHS! She was talking about  _ paragraphs _ !”

 


	29. You Got it, Dude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh I'm so sorry I didn't post this yesterday! I had it finished and everything but I completely forgot! I'm sorry, I've got it now.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Pearl blinked, and sighed. “Okay, new rule. I will call ten minutes before I arrive so you can clean up whatever the  _ heck _ you all are doing.”

Amethyst, Garnet and the girls all looked at each other. The first one to speak was Sardonyx, who sat on the floor. “Pwetty!”

“Is the couch on fire?” Pearl followed up.

Garnet nodded slowly, before going to get the fire extinguisher.

“Is the smoky alarm gonna go off?” Opal asked Amethyst, looking worried.

“Not if Garnet hurries up.” 

“Why is there paint all over the floor?”

Amethyst shrugged. “We were painting.”

“Yeah, and then what, did you decide to paint the carpet?”

“Sardonyx knocked over the paint cans. And then rolled in them.” Alex said.

“So you also painted Sardonyx. And your cast?”

“That fell in the paint puddles.”

“And the couch?”

“We tried to clean up the paint.” Amethyst said helpfully.

Pearl sighed. “I don’t even want to know… thank you, Garnet.”

Garnet nodded as she sprayed the couch with the extinguisher, adding tons of white to the now bright and colorful couch. 

“Can we go play in the snow?” Alex asked.

“No, we’re going to clean up this mess.” Pearl said.

The girls “aawed” along with Amethyst. Garnet put the fire extinguisher on the floor before saying, “Get the towels.”

“But we’re only gonna have snow for a little bit! We need to go play with it!” Sugi protested.

“You should have thought of that before you got paint on the carpet. We need to clean it before it dries.”

“Come on, Pearl…”

“And YOU TWO!” Pearl yelled, making Garnet and Amethyst jump. “You let this happen?”

“We tried to clean u-” Amethyst began.

“Yeah, and you set the couch on fire!”

“Pearl-”

“Do I have to hire a sitter every time I leave the house? Should I just call Vidalia next time I have to go?”

“You have to leave every school day.” Opal mentioned.

“Well, why don’t we just have her move in?”

“She already has a house.” Garnet stated.

“Yeah,” Amethyst shrugged, “And besides, we’re pretty much already  _ Full House _ over here. We don’t need another adult. Unless you’d like to get the dog?”

There was a dead silence for a few seconds, before Garnet said, “We are  _ not _ Full House.”

“We kind of are.” Amethyst rolled her eyes.

“Absolutely not. No.” Pearl crossed her arms.

“What’s  _ Full House _ ?” Alex asked.

“Can we do that for Halloween next year?” Sugi inquired.

“Yeah, that’ll really scare people.” Garnet said.

Amethyst looked between Garnet and Pearl. “Come on! Three adults, four girls-”

“There were only three girls.” Pearl said.

“I thought there were four.”

“No, there were three.” Garnet said. “But one of them was played by twins.”

“Huh. I didn’t know that.”

“Besides,” Opal huffed, “Sardonyx is  _ clearly _ the dog.”

Sardonyx looked up dramatically. “BORK.”

“Wait, can I be the cool one?” Amethyst asked. “Of the parents. Pearl’s obviously the one who likes everything clean, can I be the cool one?”

“You can be whatever you want, but we’re not-” Garnet began.

“Sweet!” Amethyst pumped the air. “So when do I get the cool girlfriend?”

“We are NOT Full House. End of story.” Pearl said. “So, now-”

“Can we play in the snow?” Opal asked. 

“I already said no.”

“You did?”

Pearl sighed. “We’re cleaning up. Okay?”

“Can we at least put on music while we’re cleaning?” Alex asked. “It’ll make it more fun.”

“Like in Snow White!” Opal added.

“Not  _ Wicked _ .” Pearl said. “Because I  _ know _ how that ends. You all start acting it out and we can’t get anything done.”

“ _ Frozen _ ?” Sugi asked.

“NO.” Amethyst groaned. “If I have to hear  _ Let it Go _ one more friggin time…”

“ _ Little Mermaid _ .” Alex suggested.

“Fine.” Pearl sighed. “Amethyst, could you get the music while the rest of us start cleaning?”

Amethyst smirked. “You got it, dude!” 

As she ran off, Pearl and Garnet yelled after her, “ _ Stop it _ !”


	30. Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I just realized that about a month ago I told y'all about getting hit by a deer. You all asked if the deer was okay and I kept forgetting to respond. So, uh, yeah, the deer's okay. So's our car. It was a hit and run I guess. I just thought it was funny cause it happened on Gilmore Girls AND I referenced it here so. Yeah that was fun.
> 
> Have some fluff that absolutely WON'T be foreboding at all. :)

Chapter Thirty

 

“What do you think they’re talking about?” Sugilite asked, sitting behind the door, trying to hear the muffled whispers all the way in the kitchen.

“Ice cream!” Sardonyx yelled, playing with the carpet. 

“Do you know, Rainbow?” Alex asked, turning to the older girl.

Rainbow, sitting in the corner and texting, shook her head stiffly and barely looked up.

“Maybe Ms. Rose is going to take us to the movies!” Sugilite suggested.

“Like  _ Dorothy in Wonderland _ ?” Opal asked.

Alex sighed. “First of all, you’re either talking about Alice in Wonderland or Wizard of Oz, and Second, those aren’t in theaters anymore.”

“But aren’t those good movies?” Opal blinked.

“Toy Story thwee!” Sardonyx yelled, her train of thought being about as consistent as Opal’s.

“Maybe they’re gonna take my cast off early.” Alex suggested.

“They’re already doing it Friday, how much earlier can you get?” Sugilite huffed, moving to sit next to Alex on her bed.

“What do you think?” Opal asked Rainbow.

Rainbow shrugged. “I don’t care.”

“What’s your dance studio doing for Christmas?” Sugilite added. 

Rainbow shrugged. “Stuff.”

“What kinda stuff?”

“Just stuff.”

“What’s up with you?” Alex huffed, crossing her arms.

“I know!” Opal raised her hand, beaming. “Amethyst says it’s called being an angsty teen!”

“But she’s not a teen for another fifty years.” Sugilite said.

“How old do you think teens are?” Rainbow asked, finally looking up from her phone. “How old you think  _ I _ am?”

“Puppy!” Sardonyx had grabbed a book and was gesturing to a picture.

“Yeah, that’s a puppy!” Opal nodded. “Now, what’s my name?”

“O-prrl!”

“Very close.”

That’s when the door creaked open, and Rose peered through. “Hey, girls. Can I come in?”

Sugilite considered. “What happens if we say no?”

Alex elbowed her. “Yeah, come on in.”

Rose walked in, followed slowly by Pearl. Sardonyx started to toddle over to her, holding her arms up in hopes that Pearl would lift her up. “Mommy!”

Pearl sighed and picked her up. “Hey, Sard.”

“Puppy!” Sardonyx pointed to the book that was now laying on the floor. “Puppy!”

Rose sat next to Alex and Sugilite, smiling a little. Rainbow slowly put her phone away, hugging her knees and looking up blankly.

“So, girls,” Rose asked, “How’ve you been?”

“Math sucks!” Sugilite yelled.

“Reading sucks!” Opal added.

“I dunno,” Alex shrugged, “It’s hard to write with one hand. But I like History!”

“You better,” Amethyst said, following in with a bag of chips and sitting on the floor next to Pearl, “That’s all you’ve been reading this year.” She paused, before saying, “And what’s your Memory Sentence for this year?”

“Ada Lovelace is cooler than all the guys!” Alex grinned. 

“Did you want to tell us something?” Rainbow asked, staring up at them.

“Um, yes. Well, uh…” Rose trailed off a bit, trying to think. She then smiled a little and said, “Well, you know that Greg and I have been together for a while.”

“Was there a time you weren’t?” Opal asked.

“Just get to the point.” Pearl sighed, as Sardonyx continued to point at the dog in the picture and repeat the word “puppy” over and over.

Rose paused. “Well, girls… I’m going to have a baby.”

There was a pause. Suddenly, Opal yelled, “ _ What _ ?”

“Well, yes, they’ll come in about-”

“ _ You can just MAKE a baby? _ ” Opal shouted, looking shocked. 

“Um, yes.” Rose raised an eyebrow.

“Aw, come on, Opal.” Amethyst snorted. “You’ve seen  _ The Addams Family _ . You know where babies come from.”

“No, we don’t.” Alex said. “You just made a bunch of jokes about sleepovers that we still don’t understand.”

Opal thought. “The Addams Family makes babies?”

“Gomez and Morticia do.” Amethyst said. “When they f-”

Pearl slapped her hand over Amethyst’s mouth. “PRAISE THE LORD HALLELUJAH AMEN.”

Rose laughed, while the girls looked to each other in pure and utter confusion.

“Why would you want a baby?” Sugilite asked. “They smell bad.”

“Well, don’t you love Sardonyx?” Rose asked.

“Yeah, but she still smells bad.” 

“I wuv you too, sis!” Sardonyx giggled.

“So, wait,” Alex blinked. “We’re gonna have two babies? Sardonyx and Baby Rose?”

“I guess.”

“So,” Alex said, “Does that mean we’ll have enough kids to be Full House?”

Pearl glared down at Amethyst. “I’m going to kill you.” After a second, she yanked her hand away from Amethyst’s mouth, gasping. “Did you just  _ lick _ my hand?”

Amethyst laughed.

“What’re you gonna name the baby?” Opal asked. 

“Well, if it’s a girl, we were thinking ‘Atarah’, it was the name of Greg’s-”

“What about Star?” Opal asked.

“Opal,” Alex sighed, “She’s not naming her daughter after Star Butterfly.”

“Why  _ not _ ?”

“Rainbow,” Rose interrupted, looking to the girl in the corner. “Are you alright?”

Rainbow stared blankly at Rose for a second, before shrugging. “You’re the one who’s gonna have to carry the thing and deal for eighteen years.”

“You’re not gonna go  _ Addams Family Values _ on us, are ya?” Amethyst asked.

Rainbow blinked. “I’m not sure what that means.”

Pearl groaned. “What is it with you and  _ The Addams Family _ recently?”

“It’s still Halloween in my heart.”

“But I’ll be fine.” Rainbow shrugged, pulling out her phone again. “Just throwing it out there, though, you get bonus parents points if you don’t die in a car accident driving to a dumb party.”

“You can get parent points?” Alex asked, completely missing the point.

After a second, Opal asked, “Why are we talking about parent points?”

Everyone groaned.


	31. Snow Fort

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so short, we've had a busy week. 
> 
> I'm also taking a break next week for the holidays, just so you know. I'll see y'all next year! :D

Chapter Thirty-One

 

“Why is building a snowman so  _ hard _ ?” Sugi asked, flopping onto the snow.

The girls were outside, playing in the snow. They’d been working on said snowman for approximately two minutes. 

“It looks so much easier on TV.” Opal said, still trying to roll the snowball they’d made to make it bigger, only succeeding in breaking it apart. “Oh, there it goes again.”

“I think I found a rock!” Alex yelled from a few feet away, digging through the snow. “So we have one eye!”

Sugi slowly sat up, picking up her snowball and trying to roll it some more. “Cool. How are you doin’, Mal?”

Mala looked over at her, staring blankly. “I can’t reach the branches.”

“So we don’t even have arms?”

“I can try to build a snowpile.” Mala suggested. “So I can get up.”

“Kay.” Sugi nodded. “Don’t fall.”

“I can help!” Alex said, running over to assist Mala in piling up the snow.

Opal shuffled over to Sugilite, having trouble moving through the thick snow around her. “Where’d Amethyst go?”

“She went to the car to get us a carrot for our snowman.”

“We’re building a  _ snowman _ ?”

“... no.”

They heard a thump in the snow, and turned to see Mala sitting on top of the snow pile, watching as Alex had fallen in the snow. “Are you alive?” she called, staring blankly at the girl.

“I’m  _ cold _ !” Alex replied. 

“It’s Winter!”

Mala sat down on the snow pile, watching as Alex stood up and brushed snow off of her. Opal started to walk over, trying to make it through the snow that was up to her knees. Sugi eventually moved up behind her, trying to pick her up and help, only for the two of them to fall over into the snow, giggling.

They looked up, to see that Amethyst had returned, staring down at them. “Do you need any help?”

“Do we?” Opal asked.

Sugi shook her head, her hair brushing through the snow. 

“We haven’t got any carrots.” Amethyst explained, reaching forwards and picking Opal up out of the snow. “I found a pen. Would that help?” After a second, she said, “Where’s the snowman?”

“Uh, we haven’t built it yet.” Sugi rolled over in the snow, looking up at Amethyst. “The snow’s being problems.”

“Is it?” Amethyst asked. 

Sugilite nodded, while Opal simply shrugged. 

“What about that?” Amethyst asked, gesturing to the snow pile that Alex and Mala were still trying to raise higher. “Just stick some eyes and buttons in it and it’ll work as a snowperson.”

“The snowpile?” Opal asked.

“Hey, Alex!” Sugi called, “Can we use the snowpile?”

Alex blinked up at her, confused. “Why?”

“For the snowman!” 

Alex and Mala looked at each other, before Mala shrugged and yelled back, “Why don’t you just make a different snow pile? We’re using this one?”

“For  _ what _ ?” Opal asked.

“It’s our fort!”

“Fort Malex!” Alex added.

“I never agreed to that name.” Mala commented.

“A fort?” Amethyst asked, “What do expect us to d-”

“ _ We challenge you to a snowball fight _ !” Sugilite yelled. “For control of the fort!”

“Your Challenge is accepted!” Mala yelled.

“It is?” Alex looked back up at her friend, confused.

“ATTACK!” Opal yelled, charging forwards and falling headfirst into the snow.

Amethyst sighed and picked Opal up, putting her onto her shoulders. “Charge!” she yelled, running forwards towards the fort.

“Come on, Alex, we’re on defense!” Mala yelled, grabbing a handful of snow and throwing it ahead of her. 

“Uh, sure!” Alex said, bending down and trying to make a snowball.

“No time for that!” Mala told her. “Just throw the snow!”

“Yes sir, Captain Mala!”

“Death! Death by snow!” Opal cheered, as Amethyst started to throw snowballs as well, followed closely by a giggling Sugilite. “The Snow War has begun!”

 

“And that,” Pearl said, passing out hot chocolate to both the young children and Amethyst, “Is where Mild Hypothermia comes from.”


	32. Daycare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to put up. I couldn't do my last minute editing because I went to the optometrist, and had my eyes dilated. Not fun.

Chapter Thirty-Two

 

“Okay, everyone,” Jessica said, looking down at the children, “Who wants to watch a movie?”

She was surprised, to say the least, when the probably the smallest kid in her group, Opal, yelled out, “Let’s watch _The Exorcist_!”

The girl and her sisters had been dropped off at the Daycare for the day, and Jessica wasn’t exactly sure what to do with them. Not only were Sugi and Alex a bit older than the rest of the children, but Sugi had already been put in time-out twice for throwing crayons at kids, Opal tended to yell out random things and forget she wasn’t supposed to play with the electrical cords, Alex kept hiding underneath tables and trying to sleep, and Sardonyx, who was a little more than two, kept managing to climb out of her crib to go play with her sisters.

At the same time, barely forty-five minutes had passed since the girls had been dropped off.

“No, Opal, we don’t have that movie,” Jess slowly said, “And I think I’d like to have a talk with your mother when she comes to pick you up.”

“Which one?” Opal asked.

“Which what?”

“Which Mom?” Opal rolled her eyes, as if it was the most obvious question in the world. “We’ve got Pearl, Amethyst and Garnet.”

“Um… whichever one comes to pick you up.” Jess sighed. “How about an animated movie?”

“Watership Down!”

Jess gave Opal a look. Thankfully, Alex took over at that point. “Opal, Garnet said we can’t see that movie.”

“But it’s got _bunnies_ , Alex!”

Alex rolled her eyes. “No.”

“What about Wizard of Oz?” Sugi asked, playing with her shoes.

“That’s not animated.” Alex said.

“Are you saying that we _shouldn’t_ watch Wizard of Oz, Alex?” Sugi rolled her eyes.

“Can we watch Cinderella?” asked a boy in the back, Max.

“Yes, we can.” Jess sighed, looking through the DVD cases. “I’ve got it here.”

“I _love_ Cinderella!” Opal exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air. “My favorite character’s the gecko!”

Jess raised an eyebrow. “The gecko?”

“Tha’ wasn’t a gecko, Opal.” Sugi rolled her eyes. “It was a cham-el-eon, and that was Tangled.”

“Oh. Which one was Cinderella?”

“Cinderella’s the princess!” Paulie said.

Opal blinked. “The one with the frogs?”

“That was Tiana.” Sugi told her.

“China?”

“Mulan.”

“Once Upon a Dream?”

“Getting warmer.”

“The spaceship?”

“You just lost it.”

“Why don’t you all just watch the movie?” Jess suggested, putting the DVD into the player. She looked for a second, then asked, “Have you kids seen the remote?”

“Wha’s a remote?” Becky asked.

“I know this!” Opal raised her hand. “Pick me! Pick me!”

“Yes?” Jess asked.

“A remote is a long, black thing that controls the TV!”

Jess sighed. “And where is it?”

Opal blinked. “Where’s what?”

“I found it!” Alex yelled.

Jess turned to her, vaguely noticing the previews begin behind her. “Yes, Alex? Where is it?”

Alex pointed, and Jess turned to see Sardonyx, sitting on the floor outside her crib and gnawing on the edge of the remote.

“No, no, Sardonyx!” Jess ran forwards and kneeled in front of the toddler, who blinked up at her. “Sardonyx, can you give me the remote?”

Sardonyx considered, then threw the remote into the air. Jess sighed. “Sardonyx, can you get the remote and bring it back to me?”

The toddler shook her head, giggling.

Jess sighed and picked her up, putting her back in the crib before grabbing the remote to skip to the menu. While the movie started, she kneeled next to Alex and asked, “How is Sardonyx getting out of her crib?”

Alex shrugged. “I dunno. She doesn’t do it at home.”

“Thank goodness, too.” Opal added. “Or she’d find my chip stash.”

“Your what?” Jess asked.

Opal tried her best to look innocent. “My what?”

 

Jess passed through the kids, watching them color on the table. As she moved to keep Ronnie from throwing his paper at Jeremy, she heard Sugilite saying,

“Yeaah, we usually jus’ have a babysitter, but Pearl couldn’t get one. Which sucks because we wanted we wanted To tell Bismuth what happened at the end of _Korra_.”

Jess turned to look, before sighing and walking forwards. “Alex, can you move a second?” she asked.

Alex blinked up at her innocently. “Why?”

Jess gave her a glare, and Alex moved, huffing as Jess reached under the table and pulled out Sardonyx, who cooed up at her as if she’d done nothing wrong

“Color!” Sardonyx pointed to the table.

“Please stay in your crib, kid.” Jess pleaded as she moved to put Sardonyx down. “These kids are gonna trample you.”

“Trample?” Sardonyx asked, before grinning and saying, “Puppy!”

Jess glanced around after putting Sardonyx back, to make sure no dogs had gotten in while she wasn’t looking. Thankfully that seemed to be just something random Sardonyx had yelled, picking up the trait from her older sister.

And just as her thoughts crossed to Opal, she heard a spam on the table, and the aforementioned child yell, “ _What do you mean Korra and Asami can’t get married_?”

Worried, she looked back to see Sugilite shrug. “Asami’s parents are not-alive. She doesn’t have anyone to give her away in the wedding.”

“She can give herself away!” Opal huffed, crossing her arms. “Like an adult!”

“Korra has two parents.” Alex added. “She can share.”

Opal then suddenly brightened. “ _Naga_ can give her away!”

Jess put a hand to her forehead.

 

It was nearing the end of the day, and there hadn’t been any incidents for at least an hour. Some of the other daycare workers had shown up to help her with the kids- Maggie had been watching Sardonyx for a bit, showing her some books and toys, while Paul had gotten the older kids to build a fort with him out of books, until he had to go home, leaving them with their new structure. Jess was finally starting to feel like the day might end well.

That was, until the younger kids decided to help with the fort.

“No,” Amanda huffed, “Go play with the babies.”

“But we wanna help the fort!” Opal pleaded.

“Aw, come on, Mandy.” Alex said. “Let em help.”

“You go play with them if you want!” Amanda huffed.

“Okay,” Sugi crossed her arms, “We will.”

Five minutes later, chaos had unfolded. The younger kids had decided to fight with crayons, running and screaming all the way. The older started throwing books and pencils, yelling a battle cry. Jess and Maggie were trying to calm them down, running through the kids and trying to separate them from each other.

Sugilite ran past Jess, tripping her up with the toy rope and causing her to fall to the ground. “Opal, now!” she yelled as she skipped away.

Opal hit the side of the crib, causing it to fall in front of her. Sardonyx, sitting in the back of the crib, cheered and scrambled to her feet as her big sister picked her up and dropped her on the floor. “JAILBREAK!” she screamed. “THE REVOLUTION HAS BEGUN!”

That was about when the door opened. Pearl and Garnet looked around in horror at the children running around, and the helpers trying to calm them down. “Wha-” Pearl stammered. “Wha- what- _what_?”

She then screamed and pointed at a teetering bookshelf, upon which Alex and Sugilite sat. Sugilite was trying to throw crayons at the back of Amanda’s head, while Alex was struggling to keep the bookshelf steady.

In a second, Garnet raced forwards and grabbed the shelf, before stepping backwards and holding out her hands, waiting for Alex and Sugi to jump down. “Garnet!” they yelled.

“We’re anarchisms!” Sugilite cheered.

Pearl ran forwards. “Don’t _do_ that!” she screamed. “I can’t have another heart attack!”

“You had a heart attack?” Opal asked, not grasping the exaggeration.

“Are you gonna die?” Alex inquired.

“Can I have your stuff?” Sugilite added.

Pearl looked to Jess, who’d finally managed to get the kids to sit down and stay still. “I… uh… I’m sorry for… um…” she sighed. “Don’t worry, we won’t come back.”


	33. Secret Twin

Chapter Thirty-Three

 

“So Ms. Rose is having a baby?” Mala asked. 

Alex nodded. “She said it’ll take a million months to come but eventually, yeah!”

“We’re gonna have a cousin!” Opal cheered. 

“Unless she has twins, then we’ll have two.” Sugi added. 

“She’s not gonna have twins.” Alex rolled her eyes. 

“Twins!” Sardonyx yelled. 

Mala sat quietly, looking down at the unplayed board game set up in front of them. “If she had twins, but they only were planning on one, would she have to get rid of one?”

“I don’t think so.” Alex shrugged.

“Imagine having a secret twin.” Opal said. “Do you think my secret twin would have better mem’ry?”

“Your secret twin would be quieter.” Sugi said.

“Nope, she screams everything she says!” Opal beamed. “And she wants to be a firebender!”

“She’s the Dark Avatar.” Sugi added. “And you’re the Avatar and you have ta fight it out.”

“But then we talk to each other and she becomes good!” Opal said.

“I feel like my secret twin would have easier hair to brush.” Sugi said, running her hands through her ponytail. “And she’d like math.”

“The horror!” Opal yelled.

“Come on, Mal, what would your secret twin be like?” Sugi asked.

Mala shrugged. “Um… she’d be an extro-vert.”

“Wha’s that?”

“Not an intro-vert.”

“Wha’s that?”

Mala blinked. “I dunno, Mom said that’s what I am.”

“Wha’s tha-”

“Moving on,” Alex said, starting to deal out the cards, “I found the instructions- they were in the bookshelf- and-”

“Wait, Alex!” Opal interrupted. “What about your secret twin?”

Alex considered. “Did Amethyst ever show you  _ The Parent Trap _ ? Yeah, there ya go.”

“You secret twin is British?” Opal brightened. “Can we trade?”

“You can’t trade nonexistant secret twins!” Sugi huffed.

“The point of the game is to get as many buildings are you can.” Alex read from the instructions. “You obtain buildings by using the money. You get the money by landing on buildings and passing go. You have a little bit of money at the beginning of the game to start you off. Once you own all of one color-”

“I’m bored!” Sugi yelled. “I don’t even know what you’re saying!”

“What are we playing again?” Opal asked.

“Was this supposed to be the bank?” Mala held up the box lid, in which she had re-arranged the game money into a colorful smiley face.

Alex sighed. “I’m gonna start again.”

“I’ll be right back,” Sugi said, “I want chips.”

“Get some for your secret twin, too!” Opal called.

“Sugi gets lunch!” Sardonyx cheered, beaming. 

“Chips,” Alex corrected, continuing to deal out money.

“Chips for lunch?” Sardonyx cocked her head.

Opal asked, “What do you think Sardonyx’s secret twin would be like?”

“Princess Leia.” Alex said.

“Who?”

It took Alex a second to remember that Opal hadn’t seen the movies yet. “Oh, I know what we’re doing this weekend.”

 

Sugi wandered into the kitchen, looking up at Garnet and Lapis. “Can I have chips?” she asked.

“Sure.” Garnet shrugged. “Get some for your sisters and Mala, too.”

Sugilite pouted. “But there are ten of us! I’m not sharing chips with all of em.”

Garnet and Lapis stared at her. “Ten?” Lapis asked.

Sugilite nodded seriously. “Us and our secret twins.”

Lapis thought for a second. “You know, I think I would have noticed if Malachite had a twin.”

“Well, that’s why our twins are secret.” Sugilite said. “Cuz no one knows about em.”

“If you say so.” Garnet nodded.

Sugilite grabbed a bag of chips from the cabinet. “I’ll just take this.” she said.

“Don’t eat all of it by yourself.” Garnet said.

Sugi nodded and left.

As soon as she was gone, Garnet turned to Lapis and said, “I’m gonna tell ‘em that Pearl has a secret twin just to see what they do.”

Lapis snorted. “Tell ‘em it’s Peridot.”

 

Once Sugilite had returned to her room, she dropped the chips on the ground and flopped to her stomach. “What’cha doin?”

“Where were you?” Alex asked. “You left a half hour ago.”

“We were gonna make invites to your funeral.” Mala whimpered, having been excited at the idea of drawing up the covers.

“Well, I grabbed chips, and then I tried to find Opal’s secret stash so I could get more.” Sugilite shrugged. “You’ve got it well hidden, girl.” 

Opal looked surprisingly sullen. “Aw, I was hoping you’d found it. I forgot where it was.”

“Did you start without me?” Sugilite asked. 

“Yeah.” Alex rolled her eyes. “Mala already has two buildings, and Opal somehow got all our money.”

“I dunno if we can deal you in now.” Mala thought. “We assumed you’d be back before this point.”

“Kay,” Sugi said, sticking her hand in the box lid they were using as the bank, “I’ll just be the Black Market.”

“You can’t-” Alex began, her protest in vain.

“I’ll buy a building for a thousand!” Opal said, tossing the money at Sugi.

“Opal-”

Sugilite thew a building back. “I win.”

“Oh, but you forget,” Mala interrupted, “Your secret twin is a cop! And she’s after you!” She grabbed a doll off of the floor beside her and threw it at Sugi, who dodged.

“You’ll never catch me!” Sugilite yelled, jumping up and running. Mala giggled and chased her, yelling something about double agents.

Meanwhile, Opal looked helplessly at Alex. “Wha’s a Black Market, anyway?”


	34. Calling a Friend

Chapter Thirty-Four

 

“Pearl, what are you doing?”

Garnet had come out of her room to see Pearl on the phone, hurriedly writing down a phone number, the paper almost tearing with the speed she was going at. At the table near her, Sugi and Opal were coloring, completely unaffected by Pearl’s panic.

“Yes, thank you.” Pearl said to the phone. “I apologize for any inconvenience we may have caused you, again… no, don’t worry, I’ll probably be able to find a sitter next time, mm-hmm, thanks.”

She hung up, and Garnet walked over, wondering if she’d noticed her at all. “Um, what was that about?”

“Oh! Nothing!” Pearl said, dialing the number she’d written into her phone. “Just something that happened at the Strawberry Daycare, just give me a minute!”

She stepped away, and Garnet looked to Sugi and Opal. “Alright, you two, what’s going on?”

“She’s calling Raisa.” Sugi shrugged.

“And who’s that?”

“She was at the daycare!” Opal beamed, looking up at Garnet as she colored her cat (or maybe it was a beetle? Who could tell?).

“And why’s Pearl calling her?”

“Cause we got married!” Opal giggled.

It took Garnet a second to think this over, then she nodded. “I’m not even surprised.”

“While Ms. Jess was callin’ for backup, she asked us to stay by the table.” Sugi explained, making another swirl on her waterfall doodle. “And Opal and Raisa thought they should get married. ‘Liza’s dad’s a pastor so she gave them some crayons to swap, cause that’s how it works.”

“I see.” Garnet nodded. “And you didn’t tell us this before because…?”

“I forgot!” Opal shouted.

“And so did I.” Sugi shrugged. “We were too busy downfalling the society to think about it.”

“Yes, hello?” Pearl wandered past the table. “Ugh! _Pick up your phone_!”

“What was your moms’ wedding like?” Opal asked Garnet. “Did they have crayons, too?”

“Maybe.” Garnet shrugged. “I wasn’t there.”

Opal looked shocked. “Why didn’t they invite you?”

“Hello! Is this Ms. Althaus?” Pearl said, reading the name from the paper. “Oh? Well, hello, Leeba. Can I speak to your parent? No, no, par _ent_. Please don’t-”

Pearl sighed, turning to Garnet. “She’s giving the phone to her bird.”

“Can our bird get a phone?” Opal asked.

“We don’t have a bird.” Garnet reminded her.

“Okay.” Opal shrugged. “Garnet, you’ve got two Moms, right?”

“Yes.”

“Kay, so which one’s Korra and which one’s Asami?”

“I’m not sure what this question means.”

“Are _you_ Ms. Althaus?” Pearl asked into the phone. “Alright, um, Bluma, can you hand the phone to your parent? I’m the Mother of one of Raisa’s friends. No, no, I just need to talk to your parent. Is one of them at home? No, no! _Ugh_!”

“Do you think this waterfall could use more red?” Sugilite asked.

“Why red?”

“It’s the blood of people who fell off.”

Garnet considered. “Well, the blood would wash downstream and into the ocean, so it’s very unlikely it’d be in the waterfall.”

“Actually, it falls ‘nto a Black Hole.” Sugilite said. “That’s what that circle is. I haven’t colored it yet, though.”

“So then the blood would go into the black hole.”

“That makes sense.” Sugilite whispered.

“Zusa, please, can I just talk to your parent?” Pearl begged. “Is there one nearby? Oh my gosh, _thank you_.”

“Hey, Sugi, do you think this looks more like Graystripe or Millie?” Opal asked, holding up her drawing.

“I dunno, you’re the one drawin’ it.”

“Yeah, but I forgot which cat it is.” Opal huffed.

“Ms. Althaus! Thank you, I think I may have gone through all of your daughters _and_ your parrot before Zusa finally gave you the phone… yeah, I’m sure it _does_ scare away telemarketers…” Pearl sat by the counter, relieved. “No, no, I’m calling about Raisa… what? No. She’s _five_ , why would I be giving her detention? She probably doesn’t even go to my- huh. She does. Well, um, I’m Pearl Maglaya, I’m the mother of Opal- oh, yes, so Raisa told you.”

“Is that Raisa’s Mom?” Opal asked. “Can you ask her if Raisa can come play?”

“In a second.” Pearl whispered, before turning back to the phone. “No, no, _I’m_ not the one who taught her the word _bourgeois,_ but I’m going to have to have _another_ talk with her- with Amethyst. Yes, that’s what I wanted to talk to you abo- it’s _not_ funny! They’re- yes, I _know_ it’s not technically ‘official’, but…”

“I think Pearl’s making a friend!” Sugi smiled, as she drew a Dragon on top of the waterfall.

“Amethyst is gonna be mad you got a girlfriend before her.” Garnet smirked.

“Garnet!” Opal grinned, looking up, “I forgot to tell you!”

“Forgot to tell me what?”

“ _I got married_!”

 


	35. Movie Making

Chapter Thirty-Five

 

Alexandrite set the camera up, placing it on the side table before backing up a bit. “Okay, I think it’s on.”

“No it’s not.” Sugi said. “You didn’t press the button!”

“Pwess the button!” Sardonyx repeated, sitting on the couch next to Rainbow, who was reading.

“Rainbow, can you get Sardonyx outta the frame? She’s not in this scene.” Alex said.

“What are we doing again?” Rainbow asked.

“We’re making a movie!” Opal giggled. 

“It’s a scene from  _ A Little Princess _ .” Alex explained. “I jus’ finished reading it and Garnet got me the CD from the musical and we’re doing the part in the attic.”

“I’m Rapunzel!” Opal explained.

“You’re  _ Sara _ .” Alex sighed. “No Rapunzel. And Sugi is gonna be Lottie.”

“The what?” Sugi asked. “Wait. I didn’t say I wanted to do this.”

“Well, you’re gonna.” Alex huffed. “You’ve got a script.”

“Oh, is that what this is?” Sugi asked, holding up her new origami Penguin.

Alex slapped her forehead. Opal looked excited. “Do mine! Make it a puppy!”

“Puppy!” Sardonyx added, giggling. 

“Listen, I’m only here until Rose gets back from her Doctor’s appointment, I’m just gonna go hang out in the corner and read my book.” Rainbow said.

“Um, okay.” Alex said. “Sugi, stop folding the scripts into animals.”

“K.” Sugi said, then immediately took Opal’s script and started folding it into a Fortune Teller.

“I remember this!” Opal laughed. “Garnet showed us how to do it!”

“Yeah, so, do you remember which way to fold it?” Sugi asked.

Opal considered. “Hmm. Left. Or right. Or down the center.”

“Well, that clears it up.” Sugilite rolled her eyes.

“Jus’ put it down so I can get this on camera.” Alex said, climbing behind the table. “Opal, do you remember your lines?”

Opal stared at her. “What lines?”

“Oh, forget it.” Alex sighed. “We’re gonna ‘improv’ it.”

“This isn’t gonna end well.” Rainbow warned from the corner.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine!” Alex said.

“Yeah! We improv-er-ed when we filmed the pony war!” Opal added.

Sugilite looked at her. “Didn’t that end with Sparkle Tail getting eaten by piranhas?”

“Oh, yeah. Whoops.”

Alex continued, “I think the on button is here somewhere…”

That’s when Amethyst walked in. “Yo, kids, have you seen my DVD folder?”

“ _ Amethyst _ !” Alex huffed. “You’re blocking my shot!”

Amethyst glanced up. “Listen, kid, if you’re gonna shoot something, use the bow- oh, oh you’ve got a camera, that makes me feel better.”

“What’s your DVD folder?” Rainbow asked. 

“It’s where she keeps her movies.” Opal explained.

“Yeah, the really bad ones that are unintentionally funny.” Amethyst said. “I’m worried Pearl’s gonna find it and ask me why I have the DVD copy of  _ Troll 2 _ .”

“Amethyst,” Alex interrupted, “This camera won’t turn on.”

Amethyst turned to look. “When was the last time you charged that?”

Alex thought for a second. “Ugh, nevermind. Sugi, Opal, go origami things.”

“Yay!” the two girls cheered, running off to find more paper.

“Hey, is that your folder?” Rainbow asked, looking down and pointing at a large binder underneath the couch.

“Yeah!” Amethyst said. “Thanks, Rainb-”

She stopped as she was hit in the back of the head with a paper airplane. She paused, before turning around, to see Sugi and Opal pointing at each other.

“You know,” she said, “I’m just gonna go watch  _ Sharknado _ in my room. Knock if you need anything.”


	36. Ballerinas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay seriously, thank y'all for your comments! I love them all, they always brighten my day! :D
> 
> Also, I will not be able to update next week; we're gonna be on Vacation and I'm not gonna have my laptop. So I'll see y'all in two weeks!

Chapter Thirty-Six

 

“So?” Amethyst asked. “How did it go?”

Pearl smiled, looking down at Opal, who was almost  _ buzzing _ with excitement. “Well? Why don’t you tell her, Opal?”

“I’M GONNA BE A BALLERINA!” Opal yelled, cheering.

“No way!” Amethyst grinned, as Opal ran over to her and Pearl turned around to close the door. “You mean they liked you? Who woulda guessed that?”

Opal blinked up at her. “Was that sarca-casm?”

“ _ No _ .” Amethyst caught Pearl shooting her a glare, but Opal seemed to catch her drift.

“They were super nice and asked me if I wanted candy and Pearl explained about my mem’ry and they were totally okay with it, they said so long as I  _ tried _ they’d be able to work with me, and they told us where to get tutus and  _ can I have a pink one _ ?”

“Well, y’know,  _ pink _ tutus are very uncommon,” Amethyst giggled, “But we’ll see what we can do.”

“And there are gonna be  _ six _ girls in my class! And the teacher says they’re all really friendly and she told me their names but all I remember is Isabelle and-”

As she went on, Amethyst looked up at Pearl. “Well?” she whispered. “Was it really that great?”

“I think it’ll be perfect.” Pearl said. “Ballet is a complicated art form, but this’ll be a good start for Opal if it’s something she wants to pursue.”

“No more big words!” Opal interrupted, huffing a little. “I don’t know what you’re saying!”

“She means you’re good.” Amethyst shrugged.

Pearl nodded. “Now, Opal, you have to understand, this is going to be a  _ lot _ of work. You’re going to have to practice if you want to be good at it, and-”

“Yes!” Opal nodded. “I’mma be the best ballet-girl ever!”

“ _ Ballerina _ , Opal.”

“Isn’t that what I said?”

Pearl sighed. “Hey, Opal, why don’t you go tell your sisters?”

“Yeah!” Opal nodded. “When can I tell Rainbow and Mala?”

“Well, we’ll have to see when Mala can come over.” Pearl explained. “And I’m sure Rainbow will come visit soon, when she’s not busy with schoolwork.”

“I’m gonna be just like Rainbow!” Opal beamed. “I’mma be a dancer too! Maybe she can show me how to do really cool things and stuff!”

“Go tell your sisters.” Pearl said. “And then we can talk about Rainbow coming over.”

“Yay!” Opal jumped off the couch and ran off, spinning and twirling as she did.

Amethyst glanced over at Pearl. “You know she wants to be a ballerina cause she found your old ballet stuff in the closet, right?”

“What?”

“Yeah. She told me not to tell you… whoops.”

 

“It’s going to be so much fun and I can’t wait and it’s going to be amazing and I’m gonna be a dancer and-”

“Slow down, Opal!” Sugi said, looking up from her doodles. “I can’t hear what you’re saying.”

“I’m gonna be a  _ ballerina _ !” Opal squealed, flopping down onto Sugi’s bed.

“Hey, if you’re taking ballet,” Alex asked, looking up from her book, “Do you think Pearl’ll let me do swordfighting? Or karate or something?”

“Yeah! Let’s fight things!” Sugi cheered.

“Now, girls,” Opal said, sitting up and doing her best imitation of Pearl, “Let’s not be violent. Let’s do important things, like not shooting the books.”

“Opal,” Alex sighed, “We’re  _ really _ not going to execute the books.”

“But it’s  _ boring _ !”

Alex said, “Opal, once you learn how to read better, you’ll like books.”

“NEVER!”

Sugi laughed. “You know what, Opal, how about this? You finish the books Pearl gave you, and I’ll convince Garnet to take us out for ice cream.”

Opal considered. “Will you also come to all my ballet recitals?”

“Well, duh!” Sugi said. “You’re gonna be great, girl!” 

Opal beamed. “You think?”

“Of course!”

Opal hugged her sister, giggling. “I’m gonna finish  _ all _ the books!” After a pause, she added, “But I’m not gonna like ‘em.”

“I know.”


	37. Sick Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, sorry I couldn't update last week. I got really sick right after we got back from Vacation. Ugh. But I'm back now!

Chapter Thirty-Seven

 

“Being sick  _ sucks _ .”

Amethyst rolled her eyes. “Wow, couldn’t figure that out.” 

Opal and Sugi groaned and flopped onto the floor. “Alex gets to go to the movies with Garnet and we have to sit here and die.” Sugi huffed.

“You’re not dying, Sugilite.” Pearl sighed. “You’ve got a sore throat.”

“We’re  _ already dead _ .” Opal dramatically said. 

“Oh, well, if you’re dead,” Amethyst smirked, “You’re not gonna want ice cream, will you?”

Opal considered. “Maybe ice cream will make me alive again.”

Pearl groaned. “I’m not sure ice cream is going to help.”

“But it’ll make us feel better! Totally!” Sugi cheered, sitting up.

Amethyst shrugged. “I think there’s some in the fridge. Just gimme a sec.”

As she stood up, Opal shuffled over to Pearl and leaned on her, humming. “Can we read a book?”

“Sure!” Pearl brightened, looking over at the bookshelf. “What do you want to read? We’ve got  _ A Little Princess _ ,  _ She Stoops to Conquer _ , _ A Series of Unfortunate Events _ ,  _ Nancy Drew _ ,  _ Percy Jackson _ -”

“ _ Warriors _ ?” Opal asked.

Pearl paused, then nodded. “Yeah, I think we have most of those. _ Amethyst _ ?”

Amethyst looked over from the kitchen. “Ya?”

“Where do we keep the  _ Warriors _ books?”

Amethyst shrugged. “Um, under my bed?”

Pearl flinched. “Okay, you’re getting it then. I’m not trying to dig through that again.”

“Wha’s under Amethyst’s bed?” Sugi asked, coming up and leaning on Pearl, imitating her younger sister.

“What  _ isn’t _ under Amethyst’s bed?” Pearl huffed. “I think she’s got a pocket dimension of chaos in there.”

“It’s a  _ controlled _ chaos, P.”

There was a knock on the door, and Pearl yelled, “It’s open, come in!”

Rose walked in, smiling. “Hello, girls!”

“We’re dying!” Sugilite announced.

“If you say so,” Rose shrugged, “I’m just here to drop off the movie, Amethyst.”

“Did ya like it?” Amethyst asked, brightening as she took the DVD.

Rose blinked. “It was supposed to be funny, right?”

“Well, that’s why  _ I _ gave it to you. Not sure if that was the director’s idea.” Amethysts shrugged. “You and Greg can borrow bad movies from me anytime.”

“Can we watch it?” Opal asked.

“Oh, heck no.” 

“Hey, Rose,” Sugilite asked, looking up at the woman, “You’re having a baby, right?”

“Um, last I checked.” Rose said, coming to sit by the girls.

“So,” Sugilite asked, “How, uh, how does the baby breathe?”

“Well-” Rose began.

“Oh! Oh! I can help with that!” Pearl beamed, jumping to her feet. “Your science book for next semester, let me get it! It’ll explain really easily, just gimme a sec!”

“Or, I could-” Rose watched Pearl run off, trying to find the book. “Nevermind.”

“Kay, let me explain while Pearl’s gone.” Amethyst said, coming over with two cups of ice cream and handing them off. “So, inside the stomach, is a pocket dimension, where the baby lives until it’s exiled into reality. And once a month, the pocket dimension has a scheduled civil war, and all the blood-”

“Is this a joke?” Sugilite asked.

“It’s sarcasm.” Opal informed her, very proud of herself for remembering the word, before looking down at her ice cream. “Amethyst?”

“Yeah?”

“Does this have  _ chicken _ in it?”

“Trust me, it’s great.”

  
  
  
  
  



	38. Thunderstorm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you, uh, may have noticed, I'm not updating a lot recently. SO much stuff is going on right now. I'll try to update consistently, but there may be a bit more trouble doing that than before. Thank you!

Chapter Thirty-Eight

 

“Guys,  _ chill _ .”

The thunder cracked again, and the girls screamed and pressed themselves against Pearl, very upset. Sardonyx cried from Garnet’s arms, as the girls started screaming about how Death was Imminent. 

“You’re fine. It’s just a storm.” Amethyst said. “We’ve had storms before.”

“Not  _ this _ bad!” Alex yelled.

“We’re gonna get killed by a hurricane!” Opal added.

“Please, it’s more likely we’ll get killed by a Sharknado than a-” Amethyst began.

Garnet interrupted, “Girls, calm down. We’re going to be fine.”

“What if we get hit by lightning?” Sugi asked.

“Listen,” Pearl said, “The odds of getting hit by lightning this year are about 1 in 960,000. You’re much more likely to die in a car accident, plane crash or vicious dog attack.”

“ _ Why would a dog attack us _ ?” Opal asked, not helped at all by Pearl’s attempt at comfort. “ _ Dogs are angels _ !”

“I don’t wanna die in a car accident!” Alex said.

“ _ We’re all gonna die! _ ” Sugilite cried.

Even Sardonyx joined in the fear, crying, “Too loud!”

“Alright, girls, it’s nearly midnight. Why don’t we all calm down and try to go to sleep?” Pearl asked.

“How can we sleep when the  _ world is ending _ ?”

“Pearl, how did we get the world’s most dramatic children?” Amethyst asked, watching as the lights started to flicker. 

Garnet looked down at the girls, thinking. Eventually, she said, “Do you girls want to know where thunder comes from?”

“It comes from  _ Death _ !” Sugi whimpered. 

“Actually, the sound of thunder means the presence of lightning.” Garnet explained. “Lightning comes from when frozen raindrops bump into each other from a cloud and create an electric charge. The protons- positive charges- form at the top of the cloud, and the negative charges- electrons- form at the bottom.”

“Electrons?” Opal asked, listening.

“Yes.” Garnet nodded. “The amount of electrons causes a charge to build up on the ground, which connects to the cloud and creates lightning.”

“What does that have to do with thunder?” Alexandrite asked.

“When the lightning travels to the ground, it opens up a channel in the air. When the light from the lightning is gone, the air collapses back in and creates a sound wave-  _ that’s _ thunder.”

“So it’s not the world ending?” Sugi questioned, looking up.

“Of course not.” Garnet said. “If the world ends, you’ll be able to tell.”

Opal sighed and leaned on Pearl, blinking away her tiredness. “Are you sure?” she yawned.

“Yes.” Garnet nodded. “And you four should be asleep.”

“Loud!” Sardonyx complained, being a bit young to understand protons and electrons, though she was a little calmer now that her sisters were.

“I guess it is a bit loud,” Pearl said. 

“What would help, Sard?” Amethyst asked. 

Sardonyx considered, flinching as thunder rolled again. “Song?”

Garnet complied, singing a quiet lullaby. Pearl joined in, too, as the girls fell silent, listening to them more than the thunder. After a while, Sardonyx calmed, starting to flicker off into sleep.

Finally, the two of them stopped, and Pearl turned to the girls. “Now, it’s  _ three in the morning _ , and you three wanted to go visit your friend Mala tomorrow, so you’re going to need your rest.”

“Do you think Mala knows how thunder works?” Sugi asked, thinking.

“Maybe you three can tell her.” Garnet said, smiling. “What do you think?”

“I think Opal just fell asleep.” Alex said, pointing.

Sure enough, Opal had fallen asleep on Pearl. Amethyst laughed and pulled out her phone to take a picture. “That’s great!” she said. “Hold still, P.”

“Amethyst.” Pearl rolled her eyes, but smiled a little as Amethyst snapped a photo.

“Aw, she’s so cute!” Amethyst said.

Opal yawned and blinked a little, roused by another peal of thunder. “Wha’s goin on?” she asked. “Is it morning yet?”

“Not yet.” Garnet said. “Come on, you three. Why don’t you go back to sleep?”

“Good idea.” Opal said, choosing to climb on the couch and fall asleep there.

“Well, there’s no moving her now.” Amethyst shrugged, picking up a blanket and tossing it onto the sleeping girl.

“Yeah.” Alex nodded, climbing onto the chair and curling up there. “Goodnight.”

“You’re just going to stay in the living room?” Pearl asked.

“I’m not.” Sugilite said. “I’m going back to bed.”

“Yes, thank you.” Pearl nodded, as Sugilite walked off with Garnet, who was carrying a sleeping Sardonyx. 

Amethyst grinned up at Pearl. “They’re so adorable, aren’t they?”

Pearl smiled, picking up another blanket from the floor and putting it over Alex. “Yeah.”


End file.
